No Escape
by LeesaCrakon
Summary: Words hurt. Lance knows that better than any of the other paladins. When Lance is hurt by those he called his friends, it impacted him greatly. He decides that he must prove himself to his team, no matter the cost...
1. Intro

This story was an entry in the Voltron Big Bang!

Artist(s): iamandasu

Work: post/157383188497/fanart-for-the-wonderful-fic-no-escape-by-the

Beta: feminist-hulk (I think, anyways. I lost contact with my beta.)

Let the Angst begin!


	2. Chapter 1

Lance's POV:  
I yawned loudly and set up, stretching my arms above my head. Alarms blared and I groaned, rolling my eyes and quickly getting out of bed to change into his armor. Allura's surprise training sessions were really starting to get old. How did she expect us to fight the Galra if we didn't have enough sleep?! Muttering under my breath, I quickly ran to the central command system. Hunk ran beside me, struggling to put on his armor over his black flight suit. His brown hair was sticking out this way and that, and he was still wearing a pajama shirt underneath his flight suit.

"Well, look who's falling behind now," I joked, smirking at my larger friend. Hunk just rolled his eyes, glaring at me before getting on his chest plate and running ahead of me. My smile faltered and I looked away, continuing to run in silence. When I reached the system, Allura glared at me, her fists clenched at her sides. Pidge, Shiro, and Keith stood by Coran and Hunk at the controls, groggily trying to shut down the alarms.

"Lance, you're late again! If you keep this up, and there's an actual attack-"

"Hey, sorry! Geez I'm not even that behind! Hunk didn't even have his armor on when he was on his way down here!" I whined, sticking out my bottom lip in a fake pout. Allura closed her eyes, took a shaky breath, and turned to the controls. I grimaced as Keith sent me a writhing look, his expression reading 'we'll talk later'. I felt almost...ashamed. It wasn't every day that both Keith and Hunk gave me a dirty look.

 _Pft, whatever, it's not even that big of a deal. I wasn't that much later than Hunk! They're all just grumpy this morning...yeah... at the same time,_ I thought, fighting to keep a smile on my face. The others seemed to be engaged in a fevered conversation, their voices in hushed whispers. I tensed whenever they occasionally glanced at me, my heart beating rapidly. Suddenly, Keith gestured for me to follow his as he left the room, his expression firm. My stomach churning, I followed him. As soon as we were out of earshot, Keith grabbed me by the front of the shirt, twisting it in his fists.

"Lance, you need to cut the crap! We're paladins, you can't mess around like this! If the Galra attack you'll get us all killed, and if there's a distress call, we'll be too late and people will die!" Keith snapped, glaring accusingly at me. My heart twisted but I rolled my eyes, a fake snicker emitting from me. Keith blinked before shoving me away with a disgusted look on his face.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even try to be your friend. You take nothing seriously, especially being a paladin." My smile quickly faded and I glared at Keith.

"Well, maybe I shouldn't be one then!" I snapped back, folding my arms across my chest. Keith gave a harsh, shrill laugh, returning my gaze.

"No, you shouldn't. Honestly, we could replace you in a heartbeat," he said coldly. I visibly tensed, my mouth hanging open as I gaped at him in shock. He hadn't just said that. There was no way on Earth Keith said that. Shaking slightly, I fixed a quivering smile on my lips and laughed nervously.

"Nice one Keith, you had me for a tick! Come on, let's go get some breakfast," I said. I went to put an arm around his shoulders and he wrenched away from me, glaring so hard at me I thought his eyes were staring through my soul.

"I mean it Lance. Before our next mission, get out. Go home, before you screw up something again. You wanted to go home anyways, didn't you? So you could see your precious 'mamá and papá'? Bet they'll be glad to have their little mistake back. They're too blind to see what's wrong with you anyways," Keith mocked, poking me in the chest. I gasped and then gritted my teeth, a low growl emitting from my throat. Keith blinked in surprise and backed away, suddenly fearful as I started to walk towards him.

"Don't ever, _ever_ talk about my parents that way! You can say whatever you want about me, but leave them alone!" I snarled, my eyes blazing. Oh, he was going to get it! He was supposed to be my friend, and now he was insulting me and my parents. My anger built up and I roared, lunging out and punching Keith as hard as I could. I smirked, hearing a satisfying crunch and a yowl of pain. Keith clutched his nose, blood gushing through his fingers. He stared up at me in horror, then shock, and then anger. As he opened his mouth to say something, I put my hand up, expression hard.

"Don't say a word. I'll leave, if that's what you want. I mean, if you, one of my best friends, don't want me here then what's the point in staying?" I said softly. Keith nodded slightly and started to mop up the blood from his nose on his sleeve, avoiding eye contact with me. My heart dropped like a stone and I turned away, heading to the kitchens. Maybe helping Hunk cook breakfast would get my mind off of things.

"Hey Hunk, need any help?" I asked, bounding into the kitchen with my signature goofy smile plastered on my face. Hunk smiled a little and nodded, gesturing for me to come over the the...stove? I didn't know exactly what it was. It looked a bit like a stove on earth. I looked into the pan Hunk was stirring and grinned, looking up at him.

"This looks like something my mom would make! What is it?" Hunk gave the pan a few more stirs before grinning and replying, "It's scrambled eggs, genius. I just added some spices from my bag." I raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You carry spices in your bag?" I asked, snickering slightly. Hunk's face flushed with embarrassment and he pushed me away slightly. I flinched and hoped he didn't notice.

"Yeah, I do, actually! And you should be grateful. If I didn't we'd have to survive on Coran's space goo!" Hunk mumbled, stirring the eggs with greater force. I laughed softly and patted him on the back, indicating that I was just messing with him. He chuckled and started to dish the eggs out on plates. I leaned against the wall where the goop machines were, looking down. Keith's words kept ringing over and over again in my head, making me grimace.

 _Sometimes I wonder why I even try to be your friend._

 _Honestly, we could replace you in a heartbeat!_

 _Go home, before you screw up something again._

 _Bet they'll be glad to have their little mistake back. They're too blind to see what's wrong with you anyway._

My shoulders started to shake and I had to force back tears. Stupid Keith. His opinion didn't matter anyways! He was wrong. I hoped...

"Sorry about earlier, by the way. I probably came off as a bit of a jerk," Hunk suddenly said, his tone sheepish. I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly gave him a smile.

"It's alright, buddy. Worse has happened to me." Hunk nodded and sighed with relief before leaving the kitchen, probably to get the others for breakfast. I leaned my back against the wall, tears once again welling up in my eyes. What the heck was wrong with me? Keith's words couldn't possibly have affected me this much. Just because he was my friend, and because I actually enjoyed our little rivalries, or because I liked to mess with him, it didn't mean that he'd hurt me. Nope, he hadn't hurt me at all...


	3. Chapter 2

Lance's POV:  
Breakfast had been pretty much silent. I didn't have the energy to make jokes or puns like I usually did, and no one else had tried to make conversation. Hunk and, to my surprise and disgust, Keith kept giving me concerned glances throughout breakfast. I tried to ignore them, focusing entirely on the eggs. They tasted bland in my mouth, as if my taste buds had gone numb. I shuddered and put my fork down, quickly getting up.

"Lance, where are you going?!" Allura snapped, her eyes accusing as she stared after my retreating form. "We're going to train after we're done!" I rolled my eyes and sighed, turning to look her in the eye.

"I'm going to my hanger. I need to talk to Blue," I muttered. Allura hesitated, but then gave me a small smile and nodded in approval. I gave her a quick smile back before running off towards Blue's hanger. She'd been silent lately, not speaking a word to me. I really needed someone to talk to, so I hoped she would snap out of it! A low sob escaped my throat and the tears I had been holding now started to trail down my cheeks as I entered Blue's hanger. A soft purr sounded in my ears and I openly sobbed, collapsing against Blue's paw.

 **Lance...what is troubling you?** Came the soft, concerned reply. Blue's eyes turned a faint yellow as she powered up and she moved her head so it rested between her front paws. I sniffled and wiped my eyes, my body shaking slightly as I held back my sobs. I didn't want Blue to think I was a useless paladin too.

"I-I just..." my voice trailed off. I started to shake and I gritted my teeth to keep myself from sobbing again. A low growl sounded in my mind and Blue's emotions hit me like a wave. Anger, grief, fear, hate.

 **Keith hurt you. You're going to leave because of what he said!** Blue cried, and now all I felt from her was grief. Tears kept rolling down my face as I nodded, walking to her head kneeling in front of her.

"I can't stay, Blue. Keith and I... We had a strange friendship, but it was a friendship all the same. A-And now that I know how he really feels about me, I can't stay. If my friend thinks ill of me, the others will think worse. They'll get distracted by my mistakes and they won't be able to form Voltron," I said quietly, resting my forehead against the cool metal of Blue's muzzle, my body trembling slightly as I tried to calm myself down. I knew what I was going to do, I knew I wasn't wanted, and I knew what I had to do to help my friends. If they wanted to defeat the Galra, they didn't need me. I would just get in their way. Keith had made that perfectly clear. Maybe he and Hunk would miss me eventually, but I knew they would do well without me. Maybe they'd get closer to Pidge, who knows? But that didn't matter. I craned my neck up and gave Blue a watery, tear filled smile before gesturing for her to open her mouth.

"Just... bring me to earth, and then come back. Okay?" I said. Blue said nothing, but opened her mouth slightly so that I could climb inside. A soft whimper sounded in my mind and Blue relayed a new emotion to me, one that she had never shown to me or the other lions before. A bone crushing, heart wrenching, tear jerking sense of utter loneliness. I should've known that if anyone would miss me, it would be Blue. Sitting in the pilot seat, I patted the control deck reassuringly, closing my eyes briefly.

 _Don't worry Blue, they'll find a new paladin for you, and the others can keep you company. I'm going to miss you too, but don't worry. Everything will be okay,_ I thought, hoping our bond was still strong enough to communicate by telepathy. Blue purred softly.

 **But I don't want another paladin, Lance. I chose you for a reason, I don't want anyone else! Please, please reconsider, I...I know how you can get Keith's trust back! And the others!** My eyes widened in shock at Blue's desperate reply and my hands froze over the controls. Impossible... there was no way I could make it up to the others! Well, Blue was over 10,000 years old, maybe she had a few good ideas. Besides, anything she had was better than nothing, I guess.

 _Okay, shoot. I'm all ears!_ Blue gave an excited yelp before replying.

 **There's a Galra ship nearby; not a very big one mind you, but big enough that if you took it down by yourself the others would be impressed beyond belief. It has a sort of cloaking system that prevents the castle from detecting it, but we lions were built to detect Galra tech. It's nearby, so if we want to stop it, we have to go now!** Blue said quickly. I collapsed against the seat, my eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. There were so many risks to this, but maybe I could take them. One Galra ship, and a small one at that, would be easy for me to take down. Sighing softly, I nodded in agreement and got ready at the controls.

 _I trust you, Blue. Let's do this!_ I cheered, starting her up. The hanger slowly began to open as Blue prepared to take off. She let out a roar of victory before bounding towards the hanger's entrance, her eyes glowing brightly. I whooped and grinned, all sense of despair gone. I'd show Keith. I would prove myself to him, to Hunk, to everyone! They would never be able to call me useless again! I couldn't wait to come back after destroying the ship and rubbing it in all of their faces. I bet even Shiro had never done something like this. In my excitement, I failed to notice that Blue's yellow eyes had changed to a deep, bright violet. The color of the Galra.


	4. Chapter 3

No one's POV:

"The little paladin has fallen for our trap, sire. He shall soon be upon us," Haggar hissed, her eyes blazing with eagerness and malice. She had successfully possessed the Blue Lion, trapping its paladin along with it. Zarkon raised an eyebrow at the witch, his claws making clicking sounds as he tapped them against the side of his seat. Haggar's plans had never been the most effective, and he had serious doubts in her abilities. But, she was his best chance at capturing the Blue Paladin.

"Then we must prepare to meet him. We mustn't have him come alone, now should we?" he said, chuckling softly. Haggar grinned wickedly and nodded, quickly exiting the room to tell the Galran guards. Zarkon sat back, a satisfied smirk on his face. His plans for the young paladin would provide satisfying entertainment for his men, and the information the young man held would be most useful. He got to his feet and followed Haggar, preparing to meet his 'guest'.

Lance's POV:

"Are we almost there, Blue?" I asked with a sigh, leaning on my hands as my elbows rested on the control panel. Blue had gone into self piloting mode soon after we had taken off. Strangely, she had been silent throughout our flight besides a few complaints when I asked how long it would be until we got there. Thankfully, she replied.

 **"Yeah, almost. I need to activate a worm hole so we can get there faster,"** Blue said, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. I snickered softly and smiled. My heart raced in my chest as the thought of the impending danger strengthened. This was probably the stupidest thing I had ever done. If Hunk and Keith were here-

No. I couldn't think about them right now.

The cockpit shook as Blue picked up speed and a large, black worm hole formed in front of us, ringed with a deep violet and crackling with dangerous energy. My heart plummeted and I grasped at the steer, trying to pull away from the worm hole. Violet meant that the worm hole was produced by Galra, or they had interfered with it. Blue remained in autopilot, barreling towards the worm hole.

"Blue! What are you doing?! That's the wrong kind of worm hole!" I shouted, of course stating the obvious. Blue chuckled in response, sending chills up my spine. Could lions even chuckle?! "Blue...?" I asked warily, my hands shaking as I fruitlessly wrenched at the steer.

 **"Be calm, young one. Zarkon wants you in one piece,"** Blue said smoothly. I gasped and froze, my body involuntarily starting to shake at the mention of my enemy. My eyes started to grow heavy and I fought to keep them open. My body went limp and I slipped out of the chair and crashed to the chair.

"N-No... Blue..." I managed to choke out, gasping as the air in the cockpit became colder. My breath formed in front of me in white puffs, and it was so hard to breath. How could she do this?! Something was wrong. Blue would never betray me, would she? Darkness tinged my vision and I couldn't resist the heaviness of my eyes. I slumped weakly against the ground, going completely limp and passing out.


	5. Chapter 4

Hunk's POV:  
I paced uneasily in the kitchen, glaring at the floor and wringing my hands. Keith was with Coran in the control room, trying to pin point Lance's location. I still remembered the loud roar that had echoed through the castle as Blue sprang from her hanger and out into space, soon disappearing from sight as she took Lance. Allura was in a fit of rage, her eyes blazing as she stayed in her room. She thought Lance was up to his usual tricks and pranks, but she didn't know him like I did, or even Keith did. He knew his limits, even if he didn't act like it.  
I blamed myself for Lance's disappearance, as stupid as it sounds. He had been so out of character during breakfast. He seemed more... emotional, sad even. I'd given him the cold shoulder after he'd poked some fun at me. No harm had been intended, but I still took offense. I had always made it my job to be there for Lance when we were at the Garrison, especially when I learned about his homesickness. Now, I had completely pushed his feelings aside.

"H-Hunk? Can I talk to you?" a timid voice sounded behind me. I grunted in surprise and turned to see Keith leaning against the door frame. His eyes were red and bloodshot, his skin paper pale. I could still make out the tear tracks on his cheeks and his shoulders would jerk from the occasional hiccup. Quickly, I nodded and I guided him to a seat and sat beside him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He sat in a silent heap, leaning against me slightly as he sniffed and wiped his eyes. I was shocked at how exposed and weak Keith looked, so unlike his usual self.  
"This is...This is all my fault," Keith finally whimpered, burying his head in his hands. "I'm such an idiot! He didn't even really do anything," he choked out, his shoulders starting to shake. "What's your fault?" I replied quietly, not wanting to startle him. Keith whimpered softly and shook his head before replying.

"Lance... I-I said something to him that I shouldn't have! I told him we could replace him and that he shouldn't be a paladin...I told him to leave! I such an /idiot/!" Keith exclaimed. "And now, he's gone! I was just upset, I-I...I didn't mean it. God, I'm so stupid..." Keith said hoarsely, a few tears making their way down his face. "Who knows where he is right now? He could be anywhere. And if he's hurt, it would be my fault." I sat in stunned silence as Keith finished and buried his head back in his hands. I could feel every tremor in his body as he leaned heavily against me, crying silently. Hesitating, I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace, cradling the back of his head as he buried his face in my shoulder and openly sobbed.

"Keith, don't...don't worry. We'll find Lance and bring him back safe and sound, I promise. He can't have gotten far, right? And...and you can always apologize, I'm sure he'd forgive you," I said, hoping to somewhat reassure Keith. He looked up at me, his eyes blurry with tears. I swallowed hard as his expression displayed uncertainty and he pulled away, hugging his knees to his chest.

"Maybe. I don't know. Even if he says he forgives me, he might be lying. You never know, right?" Keith muttered, laughing bitterly and humorlessly. I squeezed his shoulder and got up, smiling a bit sadly at him.  
"Lance isn't like that, and you should know it. The three of us are thick as thieves. There's no way Lance would let that go so easily," I promised. Keith shrugged and said nothing, resting his chin on his knees and staring blankly at the wall in front of him. Sighing dejectedly, I left the kitchen and headed off to the control room to see if I could be of any help. I might as well do something if I couldn't help Keith.


	6. Chapter 5

Lance's POV:

When I finally came to, I was strapped to a table in nothing but my flight suit, cuffs on my ankles and and wrists stretching my body painfully. The light, the walls, the table, and the various 'tools' in the room were a deep violet, the same colour that the poisoned worm hole had been. I shivered and tried to lift my head, instantly regretting it as a bolt of pure electricity shot out of the cuffs and a collar secured firmly around my neck. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as my body spasmed and shook, pain igniting in every molecule of my body. I was screaming, I could tell because my ears were ringing as if a loud sound was resonating in my ear drums, but I couldn't hear it. Finally, the pain stopped and I slumped weakly against table, tears up pain welling up in my eyes as my chest heaved, my breathing coming out in ragged gasps.

"Well, wasn't that fun to watch?" a voice cackled from the dark side of the room. I bit my lip as a Galra soldier stepped out of the shadows, his yellow eyes boring into me. I whimpered as he grabbed me by the chin, wrenching my head up. More electricity racked my body and I let out a strangled cry, my eyes wide in pain and shock at the sudden attack on my nerves. The soldier laughed and dropped my head back down, standing with his arms folded across his chest until the electricity once again died down.

"W-What... do you want?" I groaned, closing my eyes and twitching weakly. A deep chuckle made me shiver and I swallowed hard, clenching my fists. The Galra tsked, digging his claws into my chest and ripping through the material of my flight suit, dragging them down. I groaned in pain as he left deep, long claw marks in my chest, blood oozing out of the new wounds and running down my body.

"Oh, nothing in particular. I just want to run a few... tests-" another claw mark, more groans, "-to see how strong you are. Shall we begin?" he chuckled. I trembled but mustered up a confident smirk, ignoring how my wounds were smarting.

"Do your worst, cat face. Bet you won't be able to break me!" I said, trembling harder and trying to keep up my smirk. The Galra chuckled and picked up one of the cruel looking instruments hanging on the wall. It looked like a whip, but visible barbs protruded from it. Shaking I squeezed my eyes shut as he stroked my cheek possessively, gasped in pain as he cracked the whip against my chest. He leaned down so that his hot breath tickled my neck.

"Challenge accepted."

Keith's POV:

"Keith!" Pidge shrieked, barreling into my room at top speed. I jumped as she tackled me onto my bed, crying hysterically. I tried to shove her off of me, cringing at the unexpected contact, but she was really, /really/ strong. Sighing, I patted her head.

"What is it?" I huffed. Pidge sniffed and looked up at me with teary eyes, her glasses wet from tears. "T-The Galra... v-video... L-Lance..." she choked out, gritting her teeth. My eyes widen and I grabbed her by the shoulders, bringing her chin up with one hand so she was looking me directly in the eye. I opened my mouth to say something but the words caught in my throat. I swallowed hard, my hand starting to shake.

"The Galra sent us a video?" Pidge nodded. "And Lance was in it?" Another nod and a strangled sob. My heart plummeted. "Is he hurt?" I finished, my voice soft. Pidge nodded and clamped her hands over her mouth, sobbing softly. Taking a gulp of air, she sniffed and grabbed my hand, quickly leading me out of my room. I followed her in a daze, my eyes glazed over and blank as she tugged me along. All I could think about was Lance in the hands of the Galra. I thought of Shiro and shuddered, despair starting to cloud my mind. They'd tortured him in ways none of us could ever imagine, but he'd just been a pilot then. Lance was a paladin, a threat and a sworn enemy to the Galra race. In their minds, they had no reason to spare Lance even an ounce of mercy. We quickly went into the control room moments later, stopping dead in our tracks.

"Ah...you got him. Th-Thank you, Pidge," Shiro muttered, shaking slightly as he stared blankly at the screen. A frozen image of a Galran soldier was displayed mid-speech. My fists clenched tightly and I studied the face, taking in every detail so I could bash it in when I got to it. Hunk stood beside me, his eyes closed as he trembled. I could tell he was scared, scared about finding out what happened to Lance, probably more than I was. Coran glanced at us, his forehead creased as he fingers poised hesitantly over the controls. Allura was silent, gripping his shoulder tightly. Shiro nodded shakily at Coran, who grimaced and started to play the recording.

"Greetings, paladins. I am General Gorerage, and I seem to have come across something that belongs to all of you," the alien said with a smirk. He moved aside and I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. Lance hung from the ceiling of the room by his wrists like a piece of meat, his body limp. His flight suit was caked with blood and filth, and was so ripped it no longer resembled an article of clothing. A collar on his neck connected to the ceiling as well, restricting his air. A large, black muzzle covered his nose and mouth like a gag. I trembled with rage; they had him bound and gagged like an /animal/! Lance whimpered softly and looked up, his broken eyes staring directly at the camera, but his eyes were unfocused. He didn't know there was a camera, meaning he didn't know what was happening. He didn't know we saw him. Pidge burst into tears and Hunk ran to the nearest garbage can and threw up. Shiro, Allura, and Coran simply stared on in shock.

"We've enjoyed our stay together. Haven't we, young one?" Gorerage purred, stroking Lance's cheek in a sickly affectionate way. Lance shuddered and flinched away from his touch, but his face was set with a determined expression on his face. Lance kicked out at the soldier wildly, striking him in the chest. Gorerage growled and grabbed the offending leg, twisting it dangerously. Lance screamed through his gag as a loud snap sounded and his leg bent in an awkward angle. The Galran laughed and let the leg hang. My fists clenched at my sides and I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes.

"I'm getting tired of this Lance. Why don't we do something else, hm?" Gorerage said quickly, his eyes flickering briefly to the camera as he undid the muzzle and tosses it into an unseen part of the room. Lance bit his lip and said nothing, squeezing his eyes shut as Gorerage studied a row of cruel-looking instruments lining the violet and, disturbingly, blood stained walls. Hunk shuddered and clamped a fist over his mouth to keep from vomiting. I trembled, my eyes glued to the screen as Gorerage selected a shining silver instrument. It was about 2 feet in length, with a jagged serrated blade and a needle directly underneath it.

"W-What the quizknack is that?" Lance asked weakly, shaking. Gorerage chuckled and circled around him, occasionally slashing Lance's skin with the gagged blade. Lance gasped and groaned in pain as Gorerage slowly began to push the blade into Lance's collar bone. Shiro gasped and looked away, his eyes wide. I couldn't bring myself to look away as Gorerage pushed in the blade in to the hilt and dragged it down violently. Lance's eyes shot open wide and he screamed, tears of pain rolling down his face and blood rolling down his chest and legs. Gorerage laughed and let go, leaving the blade stuck in his chest.

"N-No...please," Lance choked, writhing as he vainly tried to dislodge the wicked knife. Gorerage chuckled softly and pressed something on the handle. I visibly paled when I saw the handle no longer had a yellowish colour and realized Lance had been injected with the glowing yellow liquid. Lance gasped and he went rigid, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Screams echoed in the control room as Lance thrashed and cried out in pain. His veins were glowing bright yellow under his skin, giving him an alien-like appearance. Finally, I was able to tear my eyes away from the screen, burying my head in my hands and sobbing as I listened to my friend's cries. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me tightly and I looked up to see Hunk, with tear filled eyes, hugging me tightly. Lance's screams eventually died down to whimpers and choked sobs. Gorerage laughed coldly and took out the knife, smirking as Lance blacked out from the pain and loss of blood. I clung to Hunk, tears streaming as Gorerage turned to the camera and held the knife up for us to see.

"This was a warning, paladins. What we want is simple. Send us the red and yellow paladins and we will let your friend go." Hunk visibly tensed and held me tighter, and Shiro howled with rage, his eyes burning. "Zarkon has taken an interest in them, the most unpleasant kind. You could always leave him here. I've grown a bit...attached!" Gorerage cackled, making the hairs rise on the back if my neck. Hunk was shaking and staring at the screen, his eyes filled with rage. The screen went black and my knees buckled under me. I leaned heavily against Hunk, sobbing into my hands.

"W-We can't leave him there! They'll k-kill him!" I cried, gritting my teeth. I struggled to stay standing and compose myself, but I couldn't push the image of Lance's screaming, writhing body out of my head. I pulled away from Hunk and staggered over to Coran, gripping him tightly by the front of his shirt. "P-Please...Coran, we have to save him!" I said, looking at him, begging with my eyes. I hated appearing so vulnerable and sensitive, but I couldn't find the strength to control myself. Coran grimaced and gently pried me off of him, gripping me tightly by the shoulders.

"We...We can't Kieth, you know that. It could be a trap. It /is/ a trap... He wants to capture you and Hunk. And knowing the Galra, they won't let Lance go once they have you. We don't even know why they want the two of you!" Coran said, regret clearly in his tone. I shook my head and looked down at my feet, fighting back tears. Stupid emotions... Hunk's fists were clenched tightly at his sides, his eyes filled with grief. We were just going to leave Lance there... to be tortured, and probably killed. Turning sharply, I glared one last time around the room before storming out.


	7. Chapter 6

Lance's POV:

Gorerage took me down from the ceiling and threw me against the ground. I groaned weakly as the searing pain rocketed through my body once again. He laughed and kicked me in the chest before grabbing me by the hair and dragging me back to the original torture room. I was in a daze from how much blood I had lost, and I almost didn't feel the pain, which both relieved and terrified me. I remembered that Gorerage had been talking to someone while he tortured me, and I couldn't help but wonder who.

"That little drug I injected you with should be kicking in soon. The pain was just a side affect of the injection." I shuddered, whimpering softly at the possibilities there were. More pain, the surfacing of bad memories or fears, unconsciousness as they did things to me, immobilization... The possibilities were endless. I remained silent as Gorerage cuffed me back to the wall, sliding his hand down my chest over my wound and I groaned, grimacing as he clawed at the raw and exposed flesh. He let his now blood soaked hand dropped to his side and he simply left, laughing lowly. I laid there limply, my wound smarting and still bleeding slightly.

Lightheadedness made me dizzy, and I gasped as my body spasmed severely several times. Panting, I bit my lip to fight back my cries, waiting for the drug to kick in as Gorerage said it would. I was scared, more scared than I cared to admit. In all honesty, the Galra had been easy on me when I compared my three-day stay to Shiro's five years here.

"Lance?" A soft, feminine voice greeted my ears and my eyes widened. I strained to sit up as best as I could but started gasping as the electricity coursed through my body. Stupid... I was so stupid. It died back down and I laid back down, whimpering. The woman came beside the table, resting her hand on my forehead. I glanced up at her and my eyes widened in shock. soft, feminine voice greeted my ears and my eyes widened. I strained to sit up as best as I could but started gasping as the electricity coursed through my body. Stupid... I was so stupid. It died back down and I laid back down, whimpering. The woman came beside the table, resting her hand on my forehead. I glanced up at her and my eyes widened in shock.

"A-Allura," I choked out, "What are you doing here?" Allura chuckled before removing her hand from my forhead. My brow furrowed in confusion; Allura... chuckled? And in this sort of situation? She hated seeing people hurt, even when she didn't like them all that much. Allura chuckled again when she saw the confused look on my face.

"Lance. I see you've finally been put in your place," she sighed. I swallowed hard, shaking my head. No...No, she would never say something like that. It was the drug, I knew it was, but as she continued I still felt intense despair at her words.

"You were always so much trouble. Did you realise that? How distracting you always were for everyone? You probably didn't, did you? You were too selfish to see your mistakes," Allura said with a light laugh. I shook my head. This was all an illusion... a trick... she would /never/ say that. Allura laughed before fading out of view.

"Weak." My breathing hitched. Coran stepped out of the shadows, his face twisted in a look of disgust. He gripped me by the hair and yanked my head up to face him. "You can't even fight without crying for your mother! I'm glad you're finally gone," he growled. "No," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. "I trusted you with that." Coran laughed and let go of my hair, letting my head thunk against the table. I groaned softly and he smirked before following Allura. I shook as Pidge emerged soon after, holding her bayard tightly in hand. Her face was twisted in annoyance and chilling glee.

"Finally. It's about time you faced the consequences for your screw-ups. Boy, am I glad I never made friends with you at the Garrison," she snickered, smirking at me. Taking a shaky breath, I shook my head. "N-No... We were friends, Pidge. We still are. P-Please..." My voice broke and I looked away. Pidge rolled her eyes and jabbed me with her Bayard before disappearing. Swallowing hard, I fought back tears. Lies... they were all lies. Breathing shakily, I flinched as a cold, metal hand gripped me tightly by the neck. I gasped for my breath, my eyes opening wide to meet Shiro's hard, cold ones.

"If it were up to me, I'd snap your neck in two to gave the Galra the trouble." I shook my head vigorously, my eyes wide, but my voice was silenced by the horrible metal hand clinging to my neck like a life line. Shiro shook his head, his eyes filled with disappointment. "You're a failure, Lance. I don't even know why I ever trusted you enough to even /consider/ you as a paladin," Shiro snarled. I gasped as he finally let go of my neck, backing away into the shadows and disappearing. I closed my eyes. Two more. Two more, and this would be over. I shook as I heard footsteps, and a cruel laugh.

"You already know what I think of you, Lance," Keith snickered. I whimpered and shook my head, my arms shaking. "But you don't know about me," another voice hissed. /No/, I thought in despair, /Not both at once./ Hunk and Keith both laughed at my obvious despair. Hunk forced me to open my eyes by punching me in the stomach, making me gasp and my eyes burst open. He smirked and leaned down to whisper in my ear, his hot breath tickling my ear and neck.

"I agree with Keith. You are replaceable, a mere pawn to us. You were never our friend, nor were you our companion. Why do you think we haven't come for you yet? Just admit it to yourself already, Lance. We don't need you. We never have, and we never will. It's time you gave up and let the Galra do whatever they want to you. -You deserve every bit of it." I started to openly sob, the thought of being here, being /tortured/ here, for the rest of my life, sent chills down my spine. Hunk wrinkled his nose in disgust and hit me again, snarling at me to stop being weak and man up. I looked away from him, despair filling my heart. I was starting to believe what they said... Hunk made a good point. If the others really cared, they would have come for me by now.

"That's right Lance," Hunk cooed, "Listen to what I'm saying. Don't lie to yourself about your friends anymore. It is all hopeless anyways. Even if we did care, we wouldn't come for you. It's too much of a risk." I almost thought I heard a tinge of regret in his tone, but I dismissed it as I heard Keith let out a malicious chuckle.

"Until next time Lance," he said quietly before leaving my prison with Hunk. My body shook as I sobbed,their words playing over and over again in my head like a broken record. I wanted it to stop. I didn't want to believe it, but the more the words repeated themselves to me,the more convinced I was of the truth they held. The others weren't going to come for me. Heck, what I had just seen might have been real. So I laid back, closed my eyes, and gave up.


	8. Chapter 7

Hunk's POV:

"We need to see do something! We can't just leave him their. They'll keep torturing him, or they'll kill him,or worse!" Keith groaned, tugging at his hair in frustration as he sat on the edge of my bed. I grimaced and gently grabbed his hands, untangling them from his hair and setting them gently by his sides. He sniffled softly and looked down, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Look, Keith. I know that you're scared for Lance, and I am to, but we can't just barge in there without a plan. We'll get ourselves and Lance killed. You understand that, right?" I asked, slightly worried that my friend's despair would blind him from the truth. Keith blinked both in surprise and to fight back tears and glanced up at me.

"You...You're right. We can't fight against the Galra without a sufficient plan. We need a course of action, something they won't expect!" he exclaimed, getting more and more excited. I grimaced and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his slightly. I supposed that he was just in a daze of some sort, not really all there. Keith shook his head, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Stop shaking me, I know what I'm talking about," he muttered, blinking before sighing and rubbing his eyes. "O-Or...Or do I? I don't know..." His voice trailed off and he sighed, his face falling slightly. I swallowed hard and said nothing, looking down at my feet. We sat in an awkward silence, the stench of hopelessness and despair hanging in the air. Neither of us knew what to to in order to get Lance back, and it was taking a toll on us. We needed to think of something and fast. But he knows? Maybe we would come up with a plan and by the time we got to the Galra ship, Lance would be dead. None of us, not even Pidge, actually knew where the ship was.

Pidge and Coran had spent two days together trying to track down the ship through the video, but nothing would come up. Coran was trying to keep his cool and be strong in front of us, but he could be found around the castle in various private places, sobbing softly where he thought no one would hear him. Pidge on the other hand, hardly ever cried, but had re occurring nightmares that included both the contents of the recording and tortures that her own imagination had conjured up. Allura and Shiro tried to help them as best as they could, but they weren't much good with technology. And then there was Keith and I, the two paladins that claimed to be closest to Lance, doing absolutely nothing to help besides conjuring up daring plans (Keith) and trying to stay calm (me).

"Well, this has certainly been a pleasant chat, but I think I'll be going," Keith muttered,getting to his feet and going out, probably to sulk somewhere. I sighed and collapsed onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. There was no hope whatsoever in my mind. I just hoped that when Lance finally died, it would be quick. But from what Shiro had told us about the Galra, they would keep Lance alive as long as possible in terrible conditions, and maybe never killing him outright. Either way, it was a horrific way to die. I shuddered and tried to distract myself. Maybe cooking would help...

Shrugging slightly, I got to my feet and headed to the kitchen, my hands shoved deep into my pockets. My footsteps echoed off the walls, as if to emphasise just how quiet the Castle had become without Lance's presence. I sighed and shook my head pinching the bridge of my nose and taking a deep breath. These sort of thoughts wouldn't help find Lance. I just needed to calm down a little, if that was possible in a situation like this. I entered the kitchen and my mouth twitched slightly into a small smile. The familiar smell of space goo and old socks greeted my nose and I sighed. Coran had made tonight's dinner earlier.

Quickly going over to my secret stash of ingredients, I opened up the cupboards and pulled out a small basket. Inside lay eggs, fruit, vegetables, cheese, milk, bread, and a variety of meats. Licking my lips, I pulled out the eggs, milk, and cheese and a frying pan that I had gotten a 'smuggler' to sneak in from earth. I had decided to make cheese omelets with milk to... I don't know, help cheer everyone up I guess. I laid out my ingredients on the counter and heated the pan on a make-shift stove Pidge, Lance, and I had helped create. Well, it was mostly me and Pidge, Lance had just painted it a little. I chuckled at the memory as I whisked the eggs in a bowl and attempted to pour in milk at the same time. Thankfully, I didn't spill it. I chopped the cheese into small pieces and added them to the egg and milk mixture. It would be at least a little decent without spices.

As I waited for the butter to brown in the pan, my mind was once again turned to Lance. I remembered our conversation we had had right in this very kitchen before he had disappeared. Thinking back on it, the pain and strain in his voice had been obvious, like a cry for help in a silent night, and I had been too much of a fool to see it. Biting my lip slightly to help hold back my tears, I poured the omelet batter into the pan and listened to it crack and sizzle. It almost sounded like... skin being burned off of flesh. I clamped a hand over my mouth and doubled over, trying to keep myself from vomiting. Now all I could picture was Lance screaming in pain as Gorerage pressed a red hot torture instrument to his skin. I shuddered violently as tears streamed down my face and my body shook. Now, their was doubt in my mind. We had to do something to get Lance back.

-Time Skip-

I sprinted down the halls of the Castle, breathing heavily and trying not to collapse. Alarms were ringing, signaling an illegal launch from the hangers. I swear, if Keith was going off on his own, I'd wring him by the neck! Sure enough, I was joined by the rest of the paladins at Red's open hanger. Keith was quickly climbing inside, ignoring our shouts and cries.

"Keith!" I shouted after him. "Come on man, don't do this!" Red's mouth slammed closed and she began to prepare for launch. /No way/, I thought to myself, /There is no way I am letting him get away/! I quickly approached Yellow and knocked on her muzzle, trying to get her to activate.

"Wake up girl! Rise and shine! Buenos dias! Guten Morgen! Hyvää Huomenta!" I groaned in frustration as my annoyed cries in Spanish, German, and Finnish failed to awaken her. Finally, I had had enough. I kicked Yellow's muzzle as hard as I could, immediately regretting it as I yowled in pain and clutched my throbbing foot, hopping around on one leg.

 _You look ridiculous,_ Yellow purred, chuckling softly as she watched my little display, her eyes glowing faintly as she finally came to. I scowled and stopped abruptly. I growled and glared up at her, my hands on my hips as if I were a stern mother scolding a much, much taller child.  
 _There is no time for joking, Yellow! We need to go after red and Keith!_ I exclaimed, both annoyed and absolutely terrified at the same time, if that were possible. Yellow hummed softly and tilted her head slightly, as if she were thinking about it. Groaning in vexation, I deadpanned and buried my head in my hands before glaring at Yellow through my spread fingers.

 _Fine, fine. Sorry Hunk. Don't get your space undies in a twist,_ Yellow grumbled before bending down and opening her mouth for me to climb inside. _Thank you,_ I replied, slightly smug as I quickly entered the ship. I went through as quickly as I could and I sat at the controls, glancing around quickly as I tried to find the launch button. Now it was Yellows turn to be annoyed. She sighed in exasperation and a yellow button on the center of the control board began to blink in a totally inconspicuous way. Not. I smiled sheepishly and pressed the button, gripping the steer tightly as I braced myself. Yellow bounded towards the entrance of her hanger and roared as she launched off into space. We flew as quickly as we could, trying to spot Keith and his lion as we zoomed through the empty blackness of space. I squinted slightly as a red dot appeared in my vision and my eyes widened.

 _There, Yellow!_ I screeched, urging her to go faster, afraid of losing the dot. Yellow gladly complied, leaning forward and going at full speed. I groaned and gripped the arm rests, thinking about how I would add seat belts and barf bags to the ship after this was all over. I grinned a bit as the dot steadily grew closer, and began to take the form of a lion. I cheered as we caught up to it and Yellow abruptly cut in front of Red, growling in defiance. I quickly turned on the comms in my helmet and tapped in to Keith's signal.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?! DO YOU WANT TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" I shouted, my eyes bugging out slightly. I could practically hear Keith roll his eyes at me before he replied, "If that's what it takes, then yes. I am going to get myself killed. Now move." Red swerved violently to the left, trying to get around Yellow, but my lion was just as fast as Keith's. Every time Red tried to get around her, she would be right in her path. I heard Keith growl in frustration and slam his fists down onto the control panel.

"Just let me go, dammit! I'm going to save Lance from that God forsaken place whether you like it or-"

"NO!" I suddenly shouted, a strange and overwhelming sense of panic and grief crashing over me like a wave. Tears started to stream down my face and I gritted my teeth, taking a few shaky breaths before continuing.

"I've already lost one of my friends to the Galra. I can't lose you too. If you attack the Galra alone, without any allies or sufficient weapons, you're a dead man. " My voice started to break and I hiccuped, trying to contain myself. "I-I can't... I can't face another loss, Keith. Lance's disappearance nearly killed me. If you keep being so rash and end up being kidnapped by the Galra, I don't know what I'd do," I said, my voice quiet. Keith remained silent for a moment, either thinking on my words or not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I'm being stupid," Keith said with a slight chuckle, but I could hear the strain in his voice. "I'm just so scared, and... guilty I guess, too. This was my fault." I growled and shook my head in frustration, my tears falling faster. Why the heck was he insisting on this being his fault?! Yellow let out a soft purr, as if she were trying to comfort me. I sniffled and sighed, wiping my eyes on the back of my sleeve. Crying and guilt trips weren't going to get either of us anywhere. We needed to come up with some sort of plan, but how? I had a few small ideas, but without a solid plan they were useless.

"I've got some ideas," I said, "but I'll need your help putting them together. If we head back to the Castle, we'll have a better place and more time to think. Do you agree, or are you still going to run off to find Lance without knowing the location of the ship he's on or anything else?" I asked, trying to keep the smugness out of my tone. Keith grumbled a bit before saying he would come back with me, turning Red back around to go in the direction of the Castle.


	9. Chapter 8

Lance's POV:

A/N: WARNING! Hints at non-con and slight non-con

Not-Keith and Not-Hunk kept coming back to pay me visits, each more unpleasant than the last. The things they said were always the same things over and over again. They told me that I wasn't good enough, they didn't need me, I was useless, replaceable, a waste of space, etc. etc. I've fallen into their trap, and I pay attention to their words with reluctant but rapt attention. And who could blame me for it? I was learning the truth of what my friends thought. Even if it wasn't really my closest friends (or enemies now that I think about it), Not-Keith and Not-Hunk would still know their thoughts. Gorerage told me they were made to do that. It was a part of the victim's torture. I also hadn't eaten or slept in days, surviving on just the water rations they gave me.

Gorerage had flogged me a few more times for kicks, but besides that and the occasional electric shock I had gotten from sitting up to far, he pretty much left me alone, except for some of his more... personal sessions. I knew they had something bigger in store for me and that I should be afraid, but I couldn't help but be relieved at the temporary time of piece. My wounds were starting to get infected, hurting me horribly, but Gorerage kept the infection at bay just enough to keep me living, breathing, and moving. Well, as much as I could strapped to a metal table. The door creaked open and Gorerage entered, carrying a rod of metal with a sort of brand on the end. My stomach sank and I felt bile rising in my throat, but I forced it back down again.

"It's been a long time young one, hasn't it?" Gorerage purred, that same blood chilling smirk on his face. I tensed as he came to stand over by the table, stroking my hair possessively. I shuddered and tried to get away from his hand, breathing hard and shaking. I couldn't, wouldn't let him touch me again. He chuckled and let go of my hair before looking down at me.

"Zarkon said I could have my way with you when he's finished with you." He held up the brand again, his eyes shining with wicked glee. "When I brand you with this, it makes you my property. No ifs, ands, or buts. One day," he said with a sickening laugh. My stomach clenched and I trembled, closing my eyes tightly and trying to ignore the way his hand rested on my leg. I gasped as his fingers curled and his claws dug into my flesh, drawing beads of blood. Why I was reacting still astounded me. I'd been through worse pain in my stay here, and yet small things like this nearly sent me reeling.

"I must go, but I will come back later," Gorerage said, his eyes hinting at exactly what he was going to do. I choked back a sob, not wanting to show this monster any weakness. Besides, if he really was going to come back, and for the reason I thought it was, I would need my voice later. Giving me one last hungry gaze, Gorerage left the room, leaving the brand beside me to remind me that I was his. There was no doubt in my mind that I would wear that crude marking one day. I had no other purpose except to be his plaything. Or, so he said. Either way, I believed it to be as such.

And so, I was once again left in the darkness of my own mind. I shuddered as the voices that had started up in my head a little while ago started up again, feeding me lies. They said, no, _insisted_ that I would be rescued. They told me that even if the others no longer cared about my well being, Hunk and Keith were too close to me to forget our brotherhood so soon. I knew they were lies because Not-Keith and Not-Hunk had told me otherwise many, many times. And why would they be lying to me? The Galra had revealed so many truths to me while I was here, even if I didn't want to accept them. My life had been a lie until I came here, and now that I finally knew the truth a part of me didn't want to go back to my so called friends. But there was another part of me, very small, that insisted upon my return. I had almost succumbed to its horrid influences and tried to escape, resorting in a beating and one of Gorerage's private sessions as a result. I didn't want that to happen again.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep my mind off of any of them. My brain kept pushing all of my wonderful memories with them into my head, replaying them over and over again. Dreams, they were, I wasn't really seeing anything. I'm not insane! I was just a little broken. I always woke up sobbing every night, wishing that I could go home, but then a Galran soldier would come in to punish me for being loud. I learned steadily to control myself, and soon I woke up from those dreams feeling completely indifferent besides a slight pang in my chest. Soon enough, the dreams stopped entirely. But, I still thought about them, and was it frustrating. I no longer cried for them or my family back on earth, but for myself. I was swallowed up in self-pity. Gorerage told me that I was being selfish and would punish me. Punish, punish, punish; that's all the Galra ever gave to me, but I was grateful, for the pain reminded me that I was still alive, still breathing, and still thinking.

My connection with Blue had ceased as well, and the most I ever got from her was a dull hum. It worried me to be honest, our loss of connection. Even if she had betrayed me, she was my only true friend. I didn't want anyone to hurt her. Our bond was so strong; it would probably hurt me too. I shuddered at the thought of feeling pain strong enough to send a robotic lion into sheer agony. I heard shouting and cursing in the halls and sighed, rolling my eyes slightly. I presumed it was another fight between the guards that guarded my torture chamber. It wasn't an uncommon thing to hear the guards argue; strangely enough though, it was always over alcohol, smokes, science, and women, something I would never have expected Galra soldiers to talk about. But this time, the shouts were ineligible, and almost human. Then, it hit me. The others... they had come for me. My eyes went wide and I started to shake again, fear coursing through my veins. I didn't want them here, I didn't want to see the utter disappointment in their eyes, I didn't want to see the horrid sneers that Hunk and Keith would give me.

 _Maybe,_ I thought, _they aren't really the others at all. The drug Gorerage gave me... It might not have worn off yet. I could be hearing things._ My breathing hitched. _Or it could be the Not-Others._ Despair swelled in my chest and I whimpered. The last thing I wanted was to have another visit from Not-Keith and Not-Hunk. Grimacing as I heard the familiar sound of shooting Bayards, I looked away from the door and at the wall opposite me. My eyes glazed over as they landed on a beautiful sight... Red crimson splattered across the violet walls. My blood, I realized. Why I found it beautiful, especially in a situation like this, was a complete and utter mystery to me. I had no idea what was so captivating about it besides the fact that it was my own, or maybe it was because I had been convinced that it was the recompense for my failures, or that I was actually starting to go insane. The shouts were unbearably loud now, screeching unintelligibly in my ears. I groaned and strained against my handcuffs, wanting to clamp my hands over my ears and block out the forsaken noise. Moments later, the shouts went completely silent, replaced instead by a persistent banging at the chamber door.

"Lance?!" a familiar voice shrieked, and I froze. "Lance, are you in there?!" Keith cried again. I shook violently, resisting the urge to vomit. They were here, they were going to hurt me, I was a dead man! The Not-Others had told me long ago about how they all wanted me dead, and now I knew they were here to do just that; they were here to kill me. My breathing became heavy as I thrashed wildly in my bonds, my mind completely ignoring the electric shocks coursing through my body as I desperately tried to free myself. I would not let them kill me like this. I would fight back, no matter what the outcome may be. But the metal of my cuffs wouldn't budge, and I was left completely helpless on a metal table, severely injured, and in a tattered space suit. The door burst open with a loud bang and two figures rushed in; Keith and Hunk.

"Oh good God," Hunk breathed, looking down at me with wide eyes. I grimaced and fought back the tears threatening to roll down my face. His expression and tone reminded me of Gorerage after one of our sessions; breathless, relieved, and satisfied. Keith on the other hand was looking down upon me with his lost puppy eyes, tears welling up in them. I did not try to understand why he was so sad, I merely understood that they wanted to kill me, and I wouldn't have it.

"Hey... Lance, calm down buddy. It's just us, we aren't going to hurt you," Hunk soothed. . He tried to place a hand on my shoulder and I screamed, wrenching away and my eyes wild. The electricity coursed through my body stronger than ever and my back arched off the table, my entire form shaking. Keith held me down firmly and I sobbed, feeling more vulnerable than I ever had in my life. He exchanged a glance with Hunk and nodded grimly before clamping a hand over my mouth. My eyes widened and I screamed, the sound muffled by his hand. What were they going to do?! Kill me?! Torture me?! The last thing I saw before blacking out was Hunk raising his Bayard above his head, his face twisted with determination.


	10. Chapter 9

Hunk's POV:

I was bent over a trash can, emptying the contents of my stomach as Keith gently placed Lance somewhere safe on the floor of Red's cockpit. Despite Lance looking extremely, and dare I say abnormally thin, he was super heavy and Keith had needed my help carrying him. My vomit forced its way out of my throat more forcefully as I remembered the feeling of Lance's blood soaked uniform and the squishy, icky texture of his raw and open flesh on my hands. Keith walked over after situating Lance and hesitantly rubbed soothing circles on my back as I trembled and sobbed, emptying my stomach of its horrid yellow bile.

"Hunk, it's alright now. We've got Lance. No one can hurt him anymore as long as we're around," Keith said in the most reassuring tone he could probably muster. I tried to nod, my sobs dying down to soft hiccups. I sniffed and set the garbage can down, plopping down on the floor neck to Lance's unconscious form. His eyes were half opened and his breathing sounded ragged, as if it were some sort of terrible task. I ran a hand through his blood caked hair, grimacing at his scorching forehead. He definitely was sick along with everything else what he was wrong with him. Hopefully, Coran or Allura had something they could give him. Lance groaned and turned over, curling up on himself and shivering. My brow furrowed and I quickly pulled off my coat, draping it over Lance's shivering body. He seemed to relax, his forehead becoming less creased and his body loosening slightly.

"I'm about to take off. Brace yourself!" Keith warned as Red let out a loud hum. I gently picked up Lance and held him in my arms, trying not to disturb any of his injuries in the process. After getting an okay from me, Keith fired up Red and took off. Lance groaned again, this time in pain, starting to shake again in my arms. I cradled him, holding him close to my chest and trying not to burst into tears. He looked broken and frail, so unlike the happy go lucky, Cuban cargo pilot I had met at the Garrison when I turned fifteen and my parents finally had scraped up enough money to let me go. Lance had been my roommate then, and we'd hit it off right away. He was a jack of all trades, a prankster, and an amazing person. Even though I was older, I looked up to Lance like no tomorrow. And now, here he was, dying in my arms, or at least trying to. My expression hardened and I mentally scolded myself for saying such things. We had rescued Lance, he would be fine now. It would take a lot to fix him, but we would do it.

"How's he doing?" Keith asked from the pilot seat, keeping his eyes fixed on the obstacles and such in front of him. I shrugged and looked Lance over before replying that he was doing better than Hunk had expected, which was true. Lance had been gone for a week, and they had all expected him to be injured horribly; not that he wasn't injured badly not, but still. And who knows, maybe his injuries were worse, but I couldn't tell at the moment. A lump formed in my throat as I saw the collar and cuffs rubbing the skin of his neck, wrists, and ankles raw. As soon as we got back, at least cuffs would come off.

The flight didn't last much longer and we were soon running through the halls of the Castle, heading towards the healing pods. Keith had branched off to go get the others while I carried Lance, my feet echoing in the silent halls. Lance shifted in his arms and muttered something groggily under his breath before knocking out again. I couldn't help but chuckle, and then the guilt overwhelmed me again. I finally reached the healing pods and gently rested Lance inside of one. I stood there, watching as Lance healed painstakingly slowly.

"It's always him, isn't it?" Shiro murmured, entering the room with the others and coming to stand beside me. I had to admit he had a point. Whenever we went on a mission, Lance would always be the one who got in serious danger and needed to make a trip to the healing pods. He seemed to have a knack for trouble wherever he went, even back on Earth. Tears welled up in my eyes and I had to turn away from Lance's battered form. It was all too much to take in. After the rush of the rescue, Lance's injuries definitely looked worse than I had originally stated in my mind. He would have to be in there for a long, long time, and I wasn't even taking the mental and emotional trauma into thought.

Keith slowly came to stand beside me, resting a hand on my shoulder. The two of us said nothing; we didn't have to. We both knew the risks of our mission, we both knew Lance would be in terrible shape, and now we both knew the wait until Lance was fully healed would be torture for everyone, especially the two of us. I had called Keith and Lance my brothers many times in a joking way, but I truly meant it, and I knew that they felt the same way towards me for the most part. Seeing either of them in pain was almost like feeling the pain as well. Seeing either of them in a broken, immobile state was almost unbearable. I closed my eyes, but small droplets still managed to leak their way through my closed lids. I gritted my teeth and mentally scolded myself for acting so... weak. It was useless, and wouldn't get us anywhere.

As if reading my mind, Keith gave my shoulder a squeeze and said, "There's no shame in crying, Hunk. Lance is our friend. It's normal for us to cry." I nodded, grateful that he had told me this. The guilt I'd felt had been crashing down on me, a hundred times worse than before. I knew Keith felt even worse, considering it was his argument with Lance that led the latter to leave, and I wished I could but on a brave face like him. But, I wasn't Keith. I was Hunk, the big, caring, awkwardly loyal friend with weird maternal instincts that drove him and those around him half insane. If I truly had the maternal instincts everyone claimed I did and teased me for, I guess it would explain why I was such an emotional wreck. But, even though I was probably closer to Lance than anyone else in this room, I could see the toll it was taking on the others.

Shiro was staring at Lance with empty eyes, twitching slightly and unconsciously rubbing his Galra arm. Pidge was curled up next to Allura, who was holding her tightly as she sobbed weakly. Allura had tears of her own trickling down her cheeks, but she kept a straight face. Out of all of them, Coran had to be the worst. He was turned away, not even daring to look at Lance. His eyes were staring blankly, blood shot from crying. Dark rings were around his eyes from lack of sleep, and his attire was disheveled. I remembered how much Coran and Lance had gotten along, acting almost like a father and son. Coran would give him advice and when neither Keith nor I were there, he would comfort Lance when he was feeling homesick. We were the closest thing to family Lance had out here in this dark void, and we all felt like we had failed him. It wasn't fair, what had happened to Lance, and any of us would have willingly taken his place. I knew I certainly felt like I deserved that treatment more than he did. Sighing softly, I shrugged Keith's hand off of my shoulder and left.


	11. Chapter 10

Lance's POV:

I was floating in black nothingness, suspended in midair as if there was no gravity pulling me down. I glanced around wildly, hearing whispers and shrieks in the darkness. Shaking, I curled up on myself, hugging my knees to my chest. A shrieking laugh echoed and I whimpered, burying my face in my knees. I had just begun to hope that Hunk and Keith had really come and rescued me, but they wouldn't do this to me. Or... would they? Moments later, I was joined by a deranged looking copy of myself. His eyes were wild and a cruel grin was plastered across his face. Blood, which I realized with a jolt was his own, was splattered across his chest and legs. He clutched a sword in his right hand, which was dripping with crimson blood.

"Well, well, well, fancy seeing you here!" Not-Lance said with a giggle, circling around me like a lion stalking its prey. I swallowed hard and struggled to my feet, trying not to look weak. Not-Lance clicked his tongue dis approvingly, taking his sword and driving it through my leg. Gasping, I fell to my knees. Not-Lance smiled maniacally.

"There we go, that's more like it; on your knees where you belong. Coward," Not-Lance snickered. Coward? That's a new one. I had been called troublesome and irresponsible, but a coward? Never. Not-Lance seemed to sense my confusion and rolled his eyes, sighing in exaggerated exasperation. I tensed as he kneeled in front of me, grabbing me by the collar that was still around my neck, wrenching me forward. I grimaced, catching a whiff of the hardened and stale blood on his clothes.

"Don't you remember, or are you too thick headed?" he growled, a horrifying anger now greatly apparent on his face. I tried to shrink away, but his gripped remained unmoving on the little bit of chain that was still connected to my collar. I whimpered softly and Not-Lance smirked.

"You were always afraid for your life. You didn't stay strong, you let them /break you/. You're crazy. I-I can't believe you actually thought for a second that your friends would come for you!" Not-Lance's anger was gone, but now he was laughing hysterically with tears running down his cheeks. I was startled, but I couldn't bring myself to speak. Suddenly, Not-Lance was sobbing, and collapsed against me.

"They don't care... They don't care at all. They didn't come. Th-They... left... me..." he choked out, trembling. I felt tears of my own pricking at my eyes and I shook my head. This... This had never happened in any of my visions. I had never seen myself, in a broken, deranged, hopeless state. Were the two that had come for me really Not-Keith and Not-Hunk? Were they the ones that trapped me here? Was this trembling, insane man before me my future if the Galra continued to... to torture me? Not-Lance looked up at me with blank eyes, the tears ceasing to flow, and a dazed smile on his lips.

"The Galra fixed me," he giggled, "even if I don't like it. I know what I am now. I know the truth about the others, about Keith and Hunk." Not-Lance started to choke up again and he sniffed, wiping his nose before leaning on me again. I shivered and closed my eyes, trying to ignore how cold his breath was, and how he smelled of death and decay.

"I /am/ sorry we have to find out this way. But you must understand Lance, that we will only be betrayed by those we care for. We are not needed, nor are we wanted. What you saw, Keith and Hunk rescuing you, was all an illusion. After all, why would you be here if they came for you? Why would you still be in chains?" My eyes widened and I shook my head, pushing him away and struggling to my feet despite the pain in my leg.

"You're wrong," I said coldly. I hoped I didn't sound as hopeless as I felt, and that the lie would get Not-Lance to go away. "They came for me. This is just in my head. You aren't really here!" Lies, lies, lies. Not-Lance glared at me, but then he instead smirked wickedly, shaking his head slowly. "Lie all you want Lance, it won't get us anywhere!" he cackled. And then, he disappeared. I stifled a sob and sat back down, hugging my knees to my chest once again. I didn't want to be like Not-Lance. I didn't want to be a psychotic and deranged man who had a sadistic side. I didn't want my friends to abandon me. But if I had learned anything while with the Galra, it was that life was cruel. There was nothing to laugh or smile about. Families and friends never really cared and would just break our hearts over and over again. There was no purpose in life. I looked up and squinted, seeing a sort of tunnel form in front of me. It was still black as midnight, but I could feel a gust of wind blowing over me from its yawning mouth. Not even glancing back, I took off and sprinted forwards.

No One's POV:

Keith was slumped against Lance's healing pod, eyes half open and snoring softly. Hunk was curled up next to him, his chest rising and falling as he slept soundly. Neither of them noticed as Lance's eyes shot open and he gasped, slumping forward and leaning heavily against the glass. His face was streaked with tears, but his eyes blazed with anger as they fell on who he thought was Not-Hunk and Not-Keith. He came to the conclusion that they must have fallen asleep while guarding what he called a nightmare pod. Lance was a bit surprised as he glanced down and saw that he was mostly healed, but he quickly pushed the thought aside and pushed against the glass of the nightmare pod, struggling to get out.

"Come on, come on," he growled softly, pushing harder against the glass. A loud hiss sounded and he yelped in surprise as the nightmare pod opened and he fell out. Not-Keith muttered something and shifted slightly. Lance froze, his heart pounding and his eyes wide as he stared at Not-Keith. After a moment if silence, Lance sighed with relief and got to his feet, slowly inching his way out of the room.

Hunk's POV:

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, sitting up slightly and looking around. My heart went cold as I saw the open entrance of the healing pod. Where had Lance gone?! I shook Keith quickly and got to my feet, wringing my hands. Keith groaned and sat up, rubbing his face tiredly and glaring at me.

"What the heck is wrong?!" Keith muttered, before seeing the open pod and jumping slightly in surprise. He cursed silently under his breath before taking his Bayard off of his belt and running out of the room. I followed him quickly, my heart pounding rapidly in my chest. Who knows what Lance could be up to right now? He could be getting hurt badly, or curled up passed out somewhere, or worse!

I pulled out my own Bayard as the sounds of loud screaming and shouting reached my ears, making my blood run cold. What was going on?! When Keith and I came around the corner, we gasped in shock. Lance had his Bayard out, his eyes wild and filled with fear as he fired at Allura, Coran, and Shiro who were taking refuge behind a table.

"LET ME LEAVE!" Lance screeched, and tears began to stream down his face as he shot wildly. "YOU AREN'T THEM! THIS IS ALL A LIE!" he shouted again, and this time he turned quickly to face Keith and I. His face paled and he backed away, shaking as he aimed the Bayard at us. My eyes were wide in shock as he ordered us to get on our knees and put our hands in the air. We obeyed quickly and Lance seemed shocked for a moment, but he quickly snarled and pressed his Bayard to my head.

"Where am I? How do I get here?" Lance said harshly. I looked up at him in confusion, and he growled again, his finger squeezing the trigger of his Bayard. I swallowed hard and tried to speak, my body quivering slightly. Keith glanced at me before butting in.

"You're back at the Castle. Hunk and I rescued you. We promise that this isn't a trick, okay? Please, believe us." Lance blinked and hesitated, but he teared up and shook his head wildly. "I-I don't believe you. This is a trick! I know it! And even if it wasn't-" his voice cracked "-I know that none of you want me anyways. You just want to kill me and get me out of the way. Isn't that right, Keith?!" Lance finished. Keith's face paled and he said nothing, looking down at the ground in shame. Lance shook his head.

"That's what I thought... Now let me out of here, before I kill you all!" His hands shook on the Bayard as he said it, and I almost sobbed with relief. He was scared. Lance was scared to kill us. That had to mean that, even though he was in this broken state, a piece of him was still in there. I looked up at him and moved the head of the Bayard aside, my expression firm.

"Listen to me, Lance. We aren't lying, this isn't a trick, and you're safe. The Galra lied to you. That's their thing! You can't believe anything that they say!" I shouted, my brow furrowed in anger. I got to my feet, glaring at Lance as he cowered, curling up in on himself. I flinched slightly, but Lance needed to hear this.


	12. Chapter 11

Lance's POV

I quivered in fear as Not-Hunk towered over me, his face twisted in cold rage. A part of me, a little voice in the back of my head, insisted that he wasn't angry, and it was concern that I was seeing. But the fear and hatred was too strong, and I ignored it. He knelt before me, reaching out to touch my arm. I flinched away, but his cool hand felt a little nice on my skin, so I stayed still. I had my Bayard ready if he tried anything, so I was safe.

"I'm sorry for everything. I should've been a better friend," Not-Hunk said softly. I blinked, startled. Why would he say something like that? Was this another trick? My eyes narrowed and I shifted away slightly. _Kill, Kill, Kill!_ The voices were shouting, and I grimaced. Not-Hunk's face fell and he sighed before continuing.

"You have no idea how worried I've been about you these past few weeks." _He lies!_ "The Galra... They sent us something. We know what happened to you," Not-Hunk said, his voice quavering. I shook my head wildly, scrambling backwards as he tried to get closer. Not-Hunk sniffed and looked away, taking a deep breath before looking back at me. His anger had completely dissolved, replaced with raw agony and sadness. I hesitated slightly, not knowing what to think. The voices... They were still telling me that this was all a trick, and that I should kill Not-Hunk before he did me in. I gripped the Bayard tightly in my hands, pressing it against Not-Hunk's chest.

"I-I don't believe you... You don't really care. You're just... You're just another one of the Galra's tricks! E-Everything... It's all been an illusion! JUST LIKE IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN!" I couldn't contain my anger any longer, but I couldn't bring myself to kill. I shot Not-Hunk in the leg and took off running, his yowls of pain bringing a smirk to my lips. I sprinted, shouldering my Bayard and panting slightly. Boy, being tortured really makes you out of shape. Shuddering at my own sick joke, I ran through the twisting and turning halls of the "Castle", trying to find a way out. I was surprised at how detailed and realistic everything seemed. The Galra's drug had never actually transported me to another reality. All it did was create illusions. I shook my head, trying to chase those poisoning thoughts away. Hearing footsteps and shouting behind me, I gritted my teeth and ran faster. My ribs ached and my breath was coming out in ragged pants, but I couldn't stop!

Soon enough, my legs started to carry my body all on its own and I ended up in a random room, slamming the door shut behind me and sliding to the floor, gasping for breath. After I calmed down a bit, I finally realized what room I was in. It was _mine._ Eyes widening, I got to my feet and staggered over to my bed. It was unmade, clothes were scattered everywhere, and candy wrappers were on the floor. It was exactly how it was when Blue and I left the Castle.

"Blue!" I suddenly gasped, my eyes welling up with tears. In all of the commotion, in my torment, and in my fear, I had completely forgotten about my Lion. My knees buckled and I collapsed next to the bed, my body shaking with sobs. After all we'd been through together, after everything Blue had done for me, I had completely forgotten and abandoned her when she needed me the most. And now, I was stuck here, wherever here was! I started to sob, clamping a hand over my mouth to muffle then so the Not-Others wouldn't hear me, but it did nothing to help. I leaned heavily against the bed and sobbed so hard, my body jerked. I cried until the tears were all dried up and all I could do to expression my pain was sob. I felt weak, and helpless, just like the Galra had always said I was. They were right. They were right about me. I was weak, cowardly, and a traitor.

"Blue...B-Blue, I'm so sorry!" I wailed, burying my head in my hands. A hand gently rested on my shoulder, and I jerked away. Not-Keith stood feet away from me, his hand outstretched and his face overridden with concern. He knelt beside me, and when he put his arm around me, I didn't resist. I had no energy left in me fight. I just slumped against my bed, hiccupping and whimpering softly. Had I been a fool all this time? Surely, if Not-Keith was really... well... Not-Keith, wouldn't he have killed me by now...? The tears streamed harder and I started to sob again. Stupid... I'd been so stupid... And then... _Hunk. I'd shot_ _ **Hunk.**_

"What...What happened to you in there...?" Keith whispered, obviously afraid of the answer. I swallowed hard and tried to answer, but I couldn't manage to get any words between my sobs. Keith put both arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I rested my head on his shoulders, my arms staying limp at my sides. My collar dug into my neck and I grimaced slightly, trying to ignore it."Don't push yourself, Lance. You don't have to tell me anything yet, okay?" Keith said quietly. I nodded, drained, and slumped against him. I heard Keith chuckle slightly and he adjusted his position so I was lying against his side, my head resting on his chest. My eyes were growing heavy and I fought to keep them open, but I was so drained. Keith smiled slightly in reassurance, and I hesitated slightly before allowing myself to pass out cold.


	13. Chapter 12

Keith's POV:

I let Lance sleep beside me for a while before shaking him gently and helping him to his feet. He looked exhausted still, the dark circles around his eyes still present. He would need a while before he was caught up on all of his sleep again. Groggily, he made his way down the halls and to the control rooms beside me, gripping my shoulder to keep himself steady. As we entered the control room, the others fell silent. Shiro's hand rested on his Bayard in his belt, as if he were prepared to use it. Lance saw the action and his face fell slightly.  
"Shiro, don't. Lance... uh... snapped out of it, I guess. I found him crying his eyes out in his room not too long ago," I said quickly. Shiro took his hand of the Bayard and chuckled. Lance's face was bright red with embarrassment and he glared half halfheartedly at me. Shiro blinked and then smiled, nodding slightly.

"Well, now that I'm... somewhat normal again, could you guys get these off of me?" Lance asked, lifting up his wrists to show is the cuffs, which had rubbed his wrists raw. Hunk grimaced and nodded, steering him over to the center of the room. Pressing a few controls, Coran made a short metal table rise from the ground, along with an array of tools. Lance's face paled and he chuckled nervously.

"Y-You know what, I'm good, I can deal with these a little longer!" he squeaked out. I shook my head and gently pushed him onto the table, staying by his side and gripping his shoulder tightly. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing raggedly.

"It's okay Lance, breath. Nothing's going to happen, no one's going to hurt you; everything's okay," I said reassuringly as Hunk chose a metal cutting tool. Lance's breathing calmed slightly, but he was still shaking. Coran and Shiro stayed to watch on while Pidge and Allura left to go do something, probably irrelevant. Hunk approached the table with a saw like instrument and Lance visibly paled.

"This will probably be a bit loud, but it'll get the job done the fastest. Take a deep breath," Hunk said. Lance nodded shakily and tried to relax, closing his eyes again. Hunk worked as quickly as possible, cutting through a section of the collar and lifting it off of Lance's neck. My eyes widened in horror as A long, bloodied needled came up with it. The base was filled with the same yellow liquid that Gorerage had injected Lance with in the video. Hunk dropped the piece of metal and doubled over, vomiting on the floor. Shaking slightly, I took of the rest of the collar and dabbed at blood welling up from holes that pierced into Lance's neck. Lance looked green in the face, is mouth a thin line as he fought the urge to vomit.

"O-Okay... Now, I'll do the cuffs," I muttered, grabbing the instrument Hunk had used and turning it back on. Moments later, the cuffs were removed, revealing several shorter needles attached to the metal. Lance was rigid, staring up blankly and breathing shakily. Hunk groaned and sat up straight again, still looking a bit green on the face.

"Can someone go get bandages or something?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Lance's pained expression. Coran nodded and ran off, looking as if he were to break down crying any second.

"Is it over?" Lance croaked, his voice weak, and cracking one eyes open. I nodded slightly and helped him back up from the table. He stood up as straight as he could manage, bracing himself against the table so he wouldn't collapse. Coran returned minutes later with bandages and quickly began to dress the punctures on Lance's wrists and neck. Lance nodded in thanks, still dazed and terrified looking. I didn't notice that he had been crying until I heard him sniffle softly beside me.

"I-I still hear them..." he whispered, his eyes widening slightly in fear. He backed away quickly, panting heavily and almost tripping over the table. "St-Stay away from me, please!" he added, his eyes crazed. Tears filled my eyes and I gaped at Lance in disbelief as he cowered, shying away from me when I reached out to touch him. What was going on?


	14. Chapter 13

Lance's POV:  
The voices were louder than ever now, screaming and wailing curses and threats in my ears as I backed away, clamping my hands over my ears. Tears were welling up in my wide eyes, and I gritted my teeth tp keep from screaming. The almost unbearable urge to kill was potent in my mind, growing worse and worse the more I tried to block it out. It was that...that stuff that had been in the needles. The voices, the illusions, the doubt... The Galra had literally injected me with liquid insanity.

Hunk tried to approach me and I shook my head wildly, backing up as fast as I could. I pressed up against the wall, sliding to the ground and hugging my knees to my chest. _Kill them! Kill all of them! They hate you! They want you dead! Kill them all!_ the voices screamed. I slammed my head against the wall repeatedly, my eyes clenched shut as I tried to ignore the voices.

"Lance, stop it!" Keith shouted his eyes wide in horror. But I didn't stop; I couldn't. The pain was helping to block out the voices. I couldn't risk it. Keith knelt in front of me, grabbing my head and holding it in place, shaking. I whimpered, trembling and squeezing my eyes shut. Maybe, if I didn't look at Keith, the voices would stop! But no, they persisted, screaming and yelling.

"Hunk, get Allura!" I faintly heard Keith yell, the voices so loud in my head his voice seemed more like a whisper. _They're going to hurt you! Kill them! Kill them all!_ "NO!" I screamed, my eyes open wide. "SHUT UP! I WON'T KILL THEM, I WON'T!" Keith's horrified gaze only deepened and he had to grip my head tighter to keep me from giving myself a concussion. I sobbed, trying to tear out of his grip. I wouldn't kill them. I couldn't, now that I knew the truth. I couldn't!

"What's the matter?!" Allura's voice rang clear in my head and all of the voices gasped in unison. I nearly got whiplash as I looked up rapidly, my breathing quickening. Allura looked annoyed, but as soon as she saw the panicked state everyone was, her expression immediately grew serious.

"Lance...what's the matter?" she asked, kneeling in front of me. _Kill her, kill her, kill her!_ I sobbed, shaking my head wildly. "V-Voices. Voices, they're so loud! I can't kill you... I won't! St-Stay away!" I yelled, backing away even though there was nowhere to go. Allura grabbed my shoulder with one arm, pressing her pointer and middle finger to my neck with the other.

"His pulse is racing, and he's feverish. We need to get him a cure as soon as possible," Allura said firmly, looking at Coran. He nodded and took one of the pieces from my collar, inspecting the contents.

"Pidge and I will look at these for an analysis and try to find a cure," Coran said, nodding firmly before exiting the room to go find Pidge. I whimpered and clamped my hands over my ears again, shaking.

"Go away. Please, Allura, make them go away!" I choked out, gasping for breath and crying. Her face twisted in anguish and she pulled me into a tight embrace, holding me close. My body visibly relaxed and even the voices began to quite a bit as I hugged her back, burying my face in her shoulder. I pulled back slightly, looking into her eyes. She seemed more exhausted than before, her body slumping against mine.

"A-Allura? Are you okay?!" I asked, panicked. The voices started to get louder and I groaned, shaking my head. Allura smiled weakly at me, reassuring me that she was alright, even though she clearly wasn't. I looked up at the others, fearful.

"W-What's wrong with her?!" I asked fearfully, looking at them all in turn. Hunk and Keith shrugged helplessly, but Shiro's face was set in grim acceptance.

"She gave you some of her energy. Don't worry, she'll be fine. At least, she'll be okay if this is the only time she does it." I nodded slightly, looking down at Allura in concern. The voices certainly had died down a bit, although they were still in the back of my head, whispering to me. It didn't seem fair, that I could be somewhat cured so quickly, only for it to not be permanent and to put someone else in danger.

"I'll take her to her room. Lance, you look like you could use some sleep," Shiro said, gently pulling Allura out of my arms and picking her up bridal style, blushing a bit as she wearily rested her head against his chest. My mouth twitched slightly, but I couldn't quite bring myself to smile. When Shiro left with Allura, Keith and Hunk helped me to my feet.

"Shiro's right, you need some sleep," Hunk muttered, and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders to steady myself. I shook my head slowly, my eyes closed. "I-I need to think about how we can save Blue! Sh-She... I need her," I muttered, my legs crumpling like jelly underneath me. Keith and Hunk exchanged a glance before helping me to my feet and slinging my arms around their shoulders and lugging me along.

"Get some sleep, get cured, and then we can help Blue. I know you're scared for her, but don't you think she'd want you to be okay first?" Hunk said pointedly, and I nodded slightly. "Maybe... before I could go to sleep, I could try talking to her again. If she answers, she'll know where I am, and she should be able to find us, right?" Keith nodded and smiled a bit.

"Yep, not communicating with you is most likely the only thing keeping her on that ship. She probably thinks you're still on the Galra ship," Keith said reassuringly. I nodded and we approached my room soon after. I collapsed onto my bed, my exhaustion finally hitting me after weeks of sleepless night. I went under the blankets, curling up and nuzzling into my pillow. Hunk left, but Keith stayed behind, standing in the doorway. Looking up at him sleepily, I gave him what I hoped looked like a questioning glance.

"Did you want to tell me something?" I asked. Keith nodded and looked away, and I could've sworn I saw his lip trembling slightly. "Yeah, I did. I wanted to apologize to you," he muttered, and I blinked in surprise. I didn't think that 'apologize' was in Keith's personal dictionary! Seeing my confused expression, Keith sighed and swallowed hard.

"It was my fault that you left, because of that stupid argument we had. I said things I didn't mean, and I've been regretting every word since the second I found out you went missing. I mean... We're supposed to be friends, and I screwed that up. And now, you...you got hurt." Keith started to choke up and he stopped, wiping his tears with a shaking hand. My expression softened and I sat up, gesturing for him to sit next to me on the bed. Hesitantly, he complied.

"You have no idea how much I've wanted to hear you say that," I said quietly, and I managed to put a genuine smile on my face. Keith looked at me in surprise and confusion, his brow furrowed. I sighed and shook my head.

"One of the illusions the Galra used on me was you guys appearing. You all told me everything I see wrong with myself, and that I would least want to hear from you. Every time you came, all you would say was, 'You already know what I think of you'. It hurt so much, and I actually started thinking they were actually you guys, and if they weren't, you all thought that about me." I started choking up and Keith looked down, ashamed.  
"It's all my fau-"

"No!" Keith jumped slightly and turned his head to face me, shocked. That seemed to be his go-to emotion lately. I glared at him, folding my arms across my chest. "It isn't your fault, it's mine. I should've just let it go. I was being stupid and selfish," I said, hoping I reassured him. Keith sighed and hugged me gently, being careful of my injuries.

"Either way, I'm just glad you're okay. Well, somewhat okay. Er... I should probably stop talking..." I let out a soft chuckle, hugging Keith back and resting my chin on his shoulder. We sat there in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company in our own strange, boyish way. After we broke apart, I settled back down against my bed, my eyes once again growing heavy. Keith smiled and got up, leaving the room to let me sleep.


	15. Chapter 14

Hunk's POV:

"Have you guys found anything?" I turned to see Shiro coming in followed by Keith, walking up to Coran and Allura. Coran was looking at a sample of Lance's blood underneath a microscope like tool, his shoulders sagging in disappointment. Looking up at the two he shook his head, his expression blank.

"Nothing; we've got nothing," Coran muttered, inspecting the blood closer. "The viruses and infection in his blood isn't like anything I've seen in a human before. I've only ever seen it once, in an Altean, and we only barely managed to cure him," he added. My eyes widened and I grabbed him by the shoulders, whirling him around to face me.

"I thought you said there was no cure!" I shouted, making him flinch. "If you've got something, then use it!" Coran shook his head, sighing.

"You don't understand, Hunk. This cure is used on Alteans. They can take the strength of it because their bodies worked differently than humans. If we use this cure on Lance, he could die!" Coran said pointedly, getting out of my grip. I took a shaky breath and tried my best not to pummel him into the ground.

"If there's even a small chance of Lance surviving the cure, we should use it! Coran, if you can't find anything else, then what will happen to Lance?" I stated. I was genuinely worried for Lance, but he needed that cure. Even if it killed him, at least we'd tried. "I-I... If Lance is not cured, he will slip completely into insanity. He will be a ruthless, bloodthirsty fighting machine. Or, the more common result is that he will slowly die a painful death," Coran managed to choke out, burying his head in his hands.

"You're willing to let that happen to Lance?!" I asked, horrified. Coran tried to answer, but all I heard was a choked whimper. I loosened my grip on his shoulders slightly, feeling a bit bad for pressuring him, but I couldn't help it. He sniffed and looked up slightly, his eyes watery.

"No, I'm not. But I don't want you and Keith to get too hopeful! And the cure will just put him in worse pain until it kills him if it doesn't work," Coran replied miserably. I bit my lip, feeling even guiltier. He'd been _worried about us._ It just made me feel a hundred times worse. I let go of Coran and stepped back slightly, letting him calm down a little. He sighed and straightened up, his expression hardening as he walked back over to the desk holding Lance's blood sample and a bunch of strange looking equipment.

"I do see where you are coming from, though. I think it may be worth a shot." He picked up a beaker filled with the yellow essence from the needles, studying it. He nodded, as if coming to some sort of conclusion, and hastily began pulling out more tools from drawers in the desk-like pedestal. I backed out of the room to let him continue his work and quickly made my way to the kitchen. With Coran working, someone else would need to prepare dinner. I didn't mind doing it. Keith was leaning against the counter when I got there, waiting for something in the make-shift microwave to warm up.

"How's Lance doing?" I asked, getting out a box of noodles from a cupboard and a pot. Keith shrugged, but a small smile spread slowly across his face. I chuckled softly and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, drawing a laugh from him.

"Better, I think. He smiled a little bit, and... He said he forgave me," Keith said, saying the last part a bit quieter. I smiled and patted his shoulder affectionately, my expression softening a bit.

"See? I told you there was nothing to worry about. Lance is a great guy! Even after you guys go through times where you hate each others' guts, you can always make up. Now, we just have to focus on getting Lance better," I said in reply. Keith blinked, nodding slightly with a dazed expression on his face. Grinning, I turned back to my cooking. Lance would get better. I had a feeling in my gut, and I learned from experience that I should always trust my instincts. Things would work out.


	16. Chapter 15

Lance's POV:

I woke up hyperventilating, my body drenched in sweat and shaking. This was the third time I had woken up from nightmares. I sighed and slumped back against my pillows, trying to fall asleep, or remember my nightmare. As a kid, remembering my bad dreams and finding some sort of closure always helped me feel better. I knew it had something to do with my family, and the Galra, but I couldn't remember! Sighing in frustration, I tried to fall back asleep, trying not to think about my family, the Galra, or Blue. But of course, as soon, as I tried to push those things out of my mind, they came back ten times worse. The voices had returned too, fueling my fear and my sadness. I turned onto my stomach and buried my face in my pillow, trying not to cry out. I'd been enough of a wimp today.

 _You know we speak the truth. The others don't care for you! You mean nothing to them!_ I growled in response, planting my pillow over my head. Why wouldn't they just shut up?! I was going insane. I could slowly feel my mind numbing, my body tingling, the voices growing louder and louder until I could not even hear my own thoughts, and I screamed. I screamed, trying to block out the voices, or at least quiet them! My head was pounding, aching, and all I could do was scream.

 _Kill, kill, kill!_ _ **No! I won't listen to you!**_ The voices chuckled as I replied to them and I groaned, curling up and trying not to completely lose it. _Succumb to us, Lance. Kill. Kill them all!_ I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping and praying that someone, anyone would come in! I heard shouting and footsteps out in the halls and I nearly sobbed in relief. Keith burst into the room moments later, his eyes wide with fear and his Bayard drawn.

"What's happening, Lance?! Are you alright?!" he questioned, rushing to my side. I shook my head rapidly, my eyes still clamped over my ears as I gritted my teeth. Keith's face paled with realization and he raced back out of the room, shouting for help. _Kill him! Kill them all! Listen to us! Kill!_ They screeched, so loudly I thought my ears would bleed. Screaming again, I writhed in my bed with my hands planted firmly over my ears. The voices laughed at my pain, cooing mockingly and snickering. I felt the bed dip beside me and a pair of strong arms tried to straighten me out.

"Lance! Lance, you need to calm down! I've got you; you're going to be okay!" Coran said, trying to comfort me. Breathing out in ragged gasps, I tried to wrench away from him as the voices grew unbearably loud, repeating that same dreaded word over and over again; kill. Coran managed to get me lying on my back, my arms pinned to my sides. He was breathing heavily, tears welling up in his eyes as he stared down at me.

"This is probably going to hurt. I'll apologize later," he said softly, pulling out a small syringe and readying it at my neck. My eyes widened and in a bout of panic, I struggled under my mentor's grip. He gritted his teeth and stabbed the syringe into my neck, making me gasp out in shock and slightly pain. My eyes began to grow heavy and my struggling ceased to a slight twitch. I groaned before going completely limp, my vision fading to black.

Keith's POV:

I carried Lance to the control room, followed closely by a groggy yet worried Hunk and a panicking Coran. . I tried not to focus on Lance's spasming, writhing form in my arms and instead tried to focus on running, placing one foot in front of the other despite the fact that they felt like molten lead. Coran was babbling on, something about formulas and chemicals. Hunk was trying and, most likely failing to keep him calm.  
"This is disastrous! The Galra poison... it's moving too rapidly in his system! If we don't cure him now, he'll die!" Coran screamed, his entire body shaking. Approaching the control room and settling Lance down on Coran's experimenting table, I doubled over and closed my eyes, swallowing hard and trying not to burst into tears. Coran came up behind me, frantically searching through the materials on the table.

"How long does he have, a few days? Does he have a week? Or don't you know?" Hunk asked nervously, coming up behind the two of us. Coran blinked rapidly a few times, opening his mouth to speak before letting out a strangled sob and shaking his head slowly in despair.

"H-He...He only has about five hours, twelve hours at most. If I don't come up with this cure, he's going to die inevitably, a-and..." Coran's voice trailed off and he took a deep breath, taking a few things from the table and running over to another that rose up from the floor.

"I-I just need to concentrate. That's all. The two of you can stay and watch over Lance, but promise not to disturb me. Lance's life is on the line." Hunk and I both nodded quickly in understanding, exchanging a worried glance. Coran ran a hand through his hair, trembling as he measured ingredients and pouring them all into a plastic container. The glow emitting from it greatly resembled the substance Lance had been originally injected with and I had to turn away, looking down at Lance's shaking form. Sweat was beading his forehead and he was whimpering, his hands clenched in tight fists drawing blood from his palms. Hunk gently pried them open; sighing as Lance subconsciously flinched away from his touch.

"He's not going to make it, is he?" I whispered, looking down at him with worried eyes. Hunk shook his head and put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. Keeping a straight face, I shrugged his hand off and turned away, looking down at my feet. I couldn't stand seeing Lance so helpless. Bruised, scarred, in pain, and scared. It just wasn't like him. Now, he was going to die. I knew he was going to, no matter what anyone else said. Coran didn't have long to make the cure and even if he did, he still doubted its potential to heal Lance. It could kill him anyways, and all would have been for nothing.

"I know what you're thinking Keith, and you need to stop. Lance will... We can... He'll be okay. I promise," Hunk reassured. I growled and whirled over to him, enraged. "Don't you dare promise that to me. Don't you dare! You know as well as I do that Lance is going to die! Either that or he's going to go insane! There is nothing we can do to save him! So just-" I was cut off as a sudden pain exploded in my stomach and I stumbled backwards, clutching my stomach and groaned in pain. Hunk's fists were clenched and he was breathing heavily, his eyes shining with tears.

"Shut up. You don't know what's going to happen to Lance either, so stopping being a freaking pessimist and grow up. I don't know if Lance is going to really be okay, and you don't know if he's going to die. But, we can't sit around, wallowing in self-pity. We need to be here for each other, no matter what the outcome of this all is. Am I clear?!" Hunk hissed between gritted teeth. I nodded slowly, my hands still over my stomach as I stared at him in disbelief. He sighed and hung his head low, his hands falling limp at his sides.

"I'm sorry I hit you, but I got my point across, right?" Hunk asked with a slight chuckle. Still saying nothing, I nodded and turned back to Lance. Kneeling by the table, I rested my head on it and sighed. Coran said we could stay with him, so I was going to stay with him. Hunk knelt beside me, resting his hand on my back in a comforting gesture. We weren't sure how everything was going to turn out, and we didn't know what condition Lance would be in if he did survive, but if the two of us stuck together, we could cope.


	17. Chapter 16

Hunk's POV:

Coran was still working away at the cure for Lance when it was morning. I had woken up with Keith leaning against my shoulder, snoring softly with a slight grimace on his face. Lance had stopped writhing and now sat still as a stone, pale as death. I didn't know which scared me more. We had yet to tell Allura, Pidge, and Shiro about Lance's turn for the worst, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to breaking the news to any of them. Even so, they needed to know. Gently shifting Keith so he was lying on the ground completely, I got to my feet and slowly made my way out of the room. The halls were still deathly quiet, meaning that either no one was up yet or the silence was a foreboding foreshadowing of what was to come. I didn't want to think about the latter option.

"Hunk! What are you doing up so early?" Pidge called to me sleepily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. I swallowed hard and turned to face her, forcing a smile onto my lips. "Just wanted to walk around a little bit. I couldn't sleep all that well last night," I replied, hoping my excuse would pass by her. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but she shrugged in acceptance, making me both sigh with relief and curse myself mentally.

"How's Lance doing?" I groaned and bit my lip. Her brow furrowed in concern and she looked up at me worriedly, shifting slightly on her feet. I knew that I needed to tell her, but I was so scared. It almost seemed that by sharing Lance's condition with her, I would be confirming the fact that he would die. Seeing my pained expression only made Pidge's concern grow and she asked me again, this time with more persistence in her voice. I grimaced and looked down at my feet, not knowing where to begin.

"He's... not doing too well. He might die. He only has a few hours left to live. We don't know if Coran can finish a cure in time. But, even if he does, the cure could kill him too," I said softly. Pidge's eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief, backing away from me. She was glaring at me with pure rage and hurt burning in her gaze. It didn't belong there, it didn't suit her one bit I grimaced and looked away, not being able to bear the fact that that hatred was targeted towards me. I heard a soft sniffle and glanced over to see Pidge biting her lip, trying not to get upset.

"H-He won't die. He can't! You're lying!" Pidge growled, her eyes dark. But, her eyes shining with un-shed tears helped me to know she didn't mean it. I shook my head, trying to think of something I could say to comfort her, to just make her realize that everything would be okay. Instead, I stood there like an idiot, my mouth opening and closing as I tried to speak. Pidge bit her lip and turned quickly, running off. I muttered insults under my breath, mentally punching myself for being so stupid. Now, she was probably going to tell Allura and Shiro, but make the situation sound one hundred times worse! I didn't run after her, though. Oh no, I trekked back to the control room and made no effort to chase after her like the coward I am. Keith was awake now and helping Coran with some sort of liquid in a large pot.

"How long do we need to let it sit now?" Keith asked, looking at a deeply shaken Coran. Coran replied so quietly that I couldn't hear him, but Keith nodded in understanding and put a top back on the pot, backing away to let it sit. Coran was noticeably paler and quiet, definitely more nervous than usual. He flitted about like a ghost, sometimes checking on Lance's still, unconscious for and sometimes looking at the potion like thing that could mean his death or his deliverance. No one wanted to consider the former option of course, as I had told myself many times before. Lance looked no better either, but he wasn't thrashing. In fact, besides his pale, sweaty complexion and occasional groan or grimace, my dear friend could have been sleeping.

"I think that's the most peaceful I've ever seen him," Keith admitted, coming to stand next to me. I nodded in silence, a slight smile tugging at my lips despite myself. Maybe, if Lance ever woke up and we were able to look back on this moment, we would all be able to have a good laugh about it in the future. I looked forward to that day and knew that because of the circumstances, I would welcome it with open arms. Keith on the other hand, looked like he was going to burst into tears. He had changed from a seemingly stubborn, insensitive person into an emotional wreck in a matter of weeks. Quite incredible it was, I had to admit. But enough of that, there were bigger problems here. Actual lives were at stake. I mentally cursed myself for getting distracted. I really needed to lighten up on the mental cursing.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I've been thinking the same thing," I replied with a soft chuckle. Keith flinched slightly and gave me a writhing look, as if me replying had startled him. I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore him. Something was going on with him and if he insisted on being a butt about it, I wouldn't intervene. Coran had once again begun to work on the cure for Lance, adding more ingredients to it and murmuring unintelligibly to himself under his breath. His face was twisted with concentration and, strangely, fears. Now that I thought about it, I'd never seen Coran get so emotional over one of the paladins before. Even though he was a goof, he still kept his emotions together very well. Was there something about Lance that he could relate to? Or, maybe, that reminded him of someone he had once known on Altea?

"Do I have something on my face, Hunk?" Coran asked tiredly, looking up at me wearily. I realized that I had been staring and my face flushed with embarrassment. I quickly turned my gaze straight ahead, avoiding all possible eye contact with the Altean. Coran snorted and turned back to his work without another word. Even Keith had seemed to cheer up a bit at my antics, elbowing me playfully and smirking at me. I brightened slightly, perking up and looking back down at Lance. I dabbed a bit at the sweat covering his forehead with my sleeve, hoping to keep even a bit from it going into his eyes. I could've sworn that I saw a small ghost of a smile flicker across Lance's lips, but it quickly disappeared.

"I think we're going to make it!" Coran suddenly burst out excitedly, his fingers rapidly tapping against the surface of the table. I looked over to see that the concoction was boiling severely, some of it spilling over the sides and onto the table. Coran's expression was one of pure glee and relief, and he even started to dance around a bit, whooping and cheering at our accomplishment. And then, it dawned on me. Lance was going to be okay. We had done it. The potion, liquid, whatever the heck it was called was finished, and despite the other possible outcome, we all somehow knew that it was going to work. I had never been happier in my entire life.


	18. Chapter 17

Keith's POV:

This was it. The cure was finished. I watched with eager eyes as Coran poured a portion of the black, sludgy liquid into a glass for Lance to drink. It smelled alright, like sugar cookies or melted chocolate, but it looked like Galra vomit which, unfortunately, I had the pleasure of knowing exactly what it looked like. Coran was practically trembling with anticipation, a worried look on his face.

"This better work," he said wearily, taking the cup in hand and striding over to Lance. I lifted Lance's head up slightly and Coran pressed the glass to his lips, tilting it slightly. A little bit of it dribbled out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin, but we managed to get him to swallow most of it. Coran gently settled Lance's head back on the desk, looking down at him anxiously. The colour in his cheeks started to return and his breathing even regulated slightly.

"It's working!" Coran said, his eyes shining with excitement. A long awaited smile spread across my face and I let out a relieved laugh. Lance was going to be okay. Lance was really going to be okay! I nearly started crying, but decided that I'd been enough of an emotional mess lately.

"Should we take him to his room, so that he can wake up in a comfortable place?" I suggested, and Coran nodded eagerly, picking Lance up gently and bounding out of the room. I chuckled slightly and followed him, my hands deep in my pockets and straggling behind slightly. When I reached Lance's room, Coran had him tucked into bed and was looking down at him with a tender, almost loving expression. He gently bent down and placed a soft kiss on Lance's forehead before whispering something quietly in his ear and standing back up.

"What was that about, Coran? Are you two hiding something from us?" I said jokingly with a small smile, leaning against the doorway. Coran jolted slightly but let out a soft chuckle of relief when he saw it was just me. Sitting at the edge of Lance's bed, he patted the spot on the floor beside him. I blinked before settling down next to him, sitting cross-legged.

"Back on Altea, it wasn't improper or gross for men, whether they were family or friends, to show physical affection to one another. It was viewed as normal, and not as... er... what do humans call it? Gay? Something like that. Anyways, I missed that a lot about Altea because I'd be seen as a freak by all of you if I tried to hug you or anything like that. But... over the time of knowing you all, I've grown quite close to Lance. He even called me Uncle a few times!" Coran stopped for a moment, smiling softly and glancing back at Lance. I nodded in understanding, but I honestly had no idea what he was getting at.

"I decided to only show my Altean affection to Lance when we were alone or the rest of you weren't paying attention. He told me he didn't mind since I wasn't actually... attracted to him or anything, and that I remind him a lot of his father so he was fine with it, and... W-Well, he reminds me a lot of someone I cared about very much back on Altea, so me doing small things like that are practically instinct by now." Coran's voice started to shake and he sniffed, looking away from me quickly.

"Who does he remind you of?" I asked quietly, and I immediately regretted it upon seeing the heartbroken expression on Coran's face. He opened his mouth to reply and then clamped it shut, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. I shifted uncomfortably, biting my lip. Coran talked about Altea often, but he never actual said anything about his personal life. It was probably a touchy subject, and I felt bad for bringing it up. I was about to tell Coran that it was okay, and he didn't have to tell me. I wanted to tell him that I knew he'd been through a lot and I understood that he didn't want to talk about it or bring it up. But, to my surprise, Coran looked ready to speak again.

"My son, Keith, he reminds me of my son," he whispered, and a single tear rolled down his cheek despite the smile on his face. "I loved him with all of my heart. But he... died. He died in one of the Galra's attempts to invade Altea, along with his m-mother." Coran started to choke up and I placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it slightly. He glanced over at me before burying his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking slightly.

"Th-That's why I was so scared for him. I-I already failed my son! I don't... I d-didn't want..." Coran's voice trailed off and he stopped talking, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. My brow furrowed and I tried to think of something to say.

"It's okay; you don't have to tell me everything. I'm glad that you and Lance are close, thought. Seems like the both of you need family," I said, smiling reassuringly at him. He nodded and forced a smile back, but it had a bit of genuine gladness in it.

"Lance already has a family, you and Hunk. I'm just a mentor," Coran said with a chuckle, "Although I do see him as a son, and he sees me as a bit of an Uncle figure. It's nice," Coran added with a murmur. I smiled and nodded slightly before getting up.

"I'm going to see what Hunk's doing. You're welcome to stay here. Someone should keep an eye on Lance anyways," I said, giving him a knowing smile. He nodded gratefully; moving so that he sat next to Lance's sleeping form. Smiling down at him tenderly, Coran rested a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. I slowly backed out, not wanting to disturb him, that slight smile still on my lips.


	19. Chapter 18

Lance's POV:

I could barely move, and I felt like my body was on fire. Every molecule, every atom was screaming out in agony, making me want to scream myself, but I couldn't. No sound came out of my mouth and I soon became entirely immobile. I had no idea how long I was stuck like that, but it felt like it was at least a day. I kept hearing shouting, arguing, and other voices surrounding me. I recognized none of them, although I felt that I should. Then, my mind began filling again. I could see faces, make out names, pick out places I'd been. What was happening? Had Coran's cure worked?! Was I... dead? No, I couldn't be. I could still feel everything, smell everything, hear everything. Death I knew was much blander and well... lifeless.

I could feel myself being carried, the tender and gentle arms of a seemingly older man holding me. I wanted to wake up, to see who the man was. Was it Coran? Was it maybe Shiro? I didn't know, and I couldn't tell. The pain was dying down and I could move slightly; the occasional small twitch or rustle. I was settled down into something soft and light, like a bed or pile of blankets. A tender hand was placed on my forehead, reminding me of three people; my father, my mother, and Coran. Only they ever showed me such love.

I heard voices again, but this time it sounded like only two people. I recognized Keith's voice right off the bat, and it took me only a moment to figure out that the other, crying man was Coran. I grimaced and tried to get up. I'd sworn to myself that I would comfort him like I would my own family! I couldn't break my promise! But I remained frustratingly immobile. Soon, the voices dissipated and I heard the door close as someone left the room. A smooth, large hand rested on my forehead and I smiled. Coran.

Coran soon had me propped up, probably against his chest, and was gently stroking my hair. I was starting to get my mobility back and I nuzzled into his chest slightly, breathing evenly. My eyes were heavy and I remained in a dreamlike state; not quite asleep, but not really awake either. I wanted to wake up and see Coran's face looking down on me. I wanted to wake up and hug Keith and Hunk like my life depended on it. I longed to awaken and chase after Blue, and find my family. My family... God, they had no idea where I was. I knew they were scared stiff for me, especially mamá and my siblings.

I don't know when Coran left, but soon enough I was settled back against the soft cushions of a bed. The bed was probably mine, now that U thought about it. Ah, and there's another thing. Being in a coma-like state gives a person plenty of time to think. Most of the time, my thoughts turned to my family on Earth, to Keith and Hunk, to Coran. But, the occasional nightmare would surface. Gorerage would always be there, torturing me or using my body. I could feel the pain; the same pain I had felt back on the Galran ship. I wanted to scream for help, to cry, to do anything that would get someone's attention so they could help me, but the nightmares stayed firm and my mouth remained shut.

I was beginning to gain consciousness, the occasional worried face or flicker of light appearing in my vision. Saying that I was excited was an understatement! I was ecstatic, my entire body tingling at the thought of being reunited with my friends. Slowly, slowly, I regained the feeling in my legs and arms. I could move, but my body still refused to let me awaken. Like mamá had always said, I needed to be patient and allow the cure to take time and let the Galra's sickening solution entirely drained from my body. It didn't mean I had to like it! And then, it happened. My eyes opened.


	20. Chapter 19

Keith's POV:

Coran had said Lance would be waking up any time now. I paced anxiously, wringing my hands and trying not to panic. Lance should have been up by now! He should have run in here, grinning from ear to ear and tackling us all in a hug that would put Hunk to shame. But now, the minutes ticked by and turned into hours. I could feel myself slowly beginning to panic and I tried to calm down, taking deep breaths and slowing my pacing. Panicking wasn't going to help anyone right now, especially me, that I knew. Coran placed a gentle hand on my shoulder as I plopped down in one of the seats surrounding the dining table, shaking slightly.

"It's going to be fine, Keith. Sometimes, the cure takes longer to fully heal a person than others. It's perfectly normal!" Coran said with a smile, although I could see right through it. He was even more worried than I was, if that were possible. He was trying to comfort himself just as much as he was trying to comfort me. I hastily pushed off his hands and stared at the ground, tapping my fingers on my knees nervously.

"Uh... H-Hello?" a timid voice called weakly. My head shot up and I gasped as my eyes landed on the source of the voice. Lance stood in the doorway of the kitchen with a slightly confused look on his face, his hair tousled and the pajamas we had put him in were twisted and backwards. I rushed forward, tackling him in a hug just like I imagined, tears welling up in my eyes. Lance had made it! He was okay! He returned the embrace instantly, burying his face in my shoulder as his entire body began to shake.

"K-Keith... Oh my gosh, Keith..." he choked out, his hands clenching the material of my shirt tightly. I loosened my grip slightly and rubbed his back, hoping to comfort him. He let out a soft chuckle and looked up at me, grinning with tears welling up in his eyes.  
"I thought I was dead... b-but you saved me. You saved me, Keith..." Lance said softly. I smiled and shook my head slightly, earning a confused look from him. "I didn't save you, Lance. I guess I helped, if only a little. Coran was the one that came up with the cure for you. He watched over you almost the entire time you were unconscious." This just seemed to make Lance more confused and he tilted his head slightly.

"Who... Who's Coran? Did he just come here while I was out or something?" Lance asked, his eyes filled with genuine curiosity. My blood ran cold and I stared at him with wide eyes, my body going rigid. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Coran flinch, but other than that he didn't have any other reaction. This had to be one of Lance's pranks or something... After what Coran told me, there was no way Lance would have forgotten him. I laughed a bit nervously and ruffled his hair.

"Nice one, Lance. You had me for a second! Come on, you must be starving," I said, letting go of him and trying to lead him to the table. He stayed in place, wearing that same confused look as if it was the only facial expression his muscles could conjure up. He backed away a bit, chuckling anxiously.

"I'm being serious, Keith. I've never met a dude named Coran in my life. Don't really want to either. I'm okay with just knowing you!" Lance said quickly, holding his hands up in a sort of surrendering gesture. Coran let out a choked sob and collapsed into one of the chairs, burying his head in his hands. I gaped at Lance in shock, shaking my head slowly. He'd said he was fine with only knowing me, hinting that he didn't know the others... If he didn't remember Coran, and it was possible that he didn't know the others... did he have amnesia?!

"L-Lance, I want you to listen carefully. Answer me honestly, no matter how weird the questions sound. Okay?" I said quietly. Lance was looking at Coran with curiosity, giving me a slight nod. "Yeah, okay, whatever. Who's that dude?" I didn't answer his question, instead beginning my own.

"Okay. How did we meet?" I asked. He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Easy. You were a fighter pilot at the Garrison when I was a cargo pilot. After that, you disappeared. Next time I saw you, you were trying to break Shiro out of this weird prison place." I sighed with relief. Now I knew he at least remembered who Shiro was.

"Alright, next question. Who were your friends at the Garrison and what do you remember about them?" Lance's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth briefly before clamping it shut again. He remained silent for a moment before answering. "This black kid... I think his name is... Hank? Or is his name Hunk? Meh, it's something like that. He's a super lovable guy, cooks a lot. The other one... The other one is Pidge. Er... Katie now, I guess. She's super great with technological stuff. I met her a little while after I started my training at the Garrison." When he finished, I shook my head in disbelief. So far, he had remembered everyone I asked him about. Was Coran really the only one of us he no longer remembered?

"Okay. Do you know a girl named Allura? If so, how did you meet her?" I asked, feeling slightly anxious. Allura was going to kill me later. Lance groaned and clutched his head suddenly, gritting his teeth. "I-I don't... I don't know a girl named Allura. I feel like I do, but I just can't remember anything about her! Just her name, and that's it. Why? Is she here?" I closed my eyes in disbelief. No way... There was just one more question I had to ask.

"Lance, where is your family right now?" I got a blank stare from him and my blood ran cold. "What are you talking about, Keith? I don't have a family."


	21. Chapter 20

Lance's POV:

What was Keith getting on about? My head was pounding as if it was trying to access information that should've been there, but wasn't. When I answered him saying that I had no family, he visibly paled and his legs turned to jelly beneath him, and he collapsed. I quickly surged forward, trying to catch him before he hit the ground. I gently settled him down in a chair, ignoring the concerned look the ginger guy across the table was giving me. I had bigger things to worry about than a stranger being worried for me.

"Keith, are you okay?" I asked, bending down to look him directly in the face. His eyes were glazed forward and he stared straight ahead, murmuring unintelligibly under his breath. The red haired man got up from his chair and moved to stand beside me, observing Keith with a critical eye.

"Looks like he's had a bit of a shock, is all. No need to worry," the man said quietly. His gaze was back on me and he studied my face, wearing a pained expression. I shifted slightly uncomfortably, looking down at my feet. What was with this guy?

"Do you... Do you really not remember me, Lance?" he asked quietly, and I made a slight o with my mouth in realization. He must've been that Coran dude Keith had tried to get me to remember. I nodded and shrugged my shoulders indifferently.

"Sorry, uh... Coran. I've never seen you before in my life," I replied, trying to look as calm as I could. Coran gave a slight nod and kept his expression blank, although there was a pained look in his eyes. . My brow furrowed and I had the sudden urge to reach out and comfort this man, to wrap my arms around him and tell him I was sorry. But, what was I sorry for? I didn't know him. He was a stranger. Keith groaned softly and clutched his head, his eyes fluttering slightly.

"Please tell me you were joking," he muttered, looking down at the floor. I smiled sadly and shook my head. I meant what I'd said. I didn't remember Coran, or... what was her name? I think Keith said it was Allura. And I certainly didn't remember my family, because I didn't have one. I could vividly remember all of their deaths in my mind, each more horrific than the last.

"I'm not joking, I swear. I'm not messing with you this time," I replied quietly, my eyes cast down. Keith looked up at me with a pained expression, shaking his head in either disbelief or disgust. I shrank back slightly, keeping my eyes glued to the floor. Was there something wrong with me? Were the people Keith mentioned really a part of my life?!


	22. Chapter 21

Keith's POV:

After the confusion in the dining area, I shot up from my chair and grabbed Lance by the arm, dragging him to his bedroom. He didn't struggle surprisingly, and remained pretty much silent until we got to his room. The bed wasn't made and it was still a mess, making me groan. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought. Letting go of Lance's arm I started searching through his stuff, looking for the box of photos he kept. Lance watched me with blank eyes, not really processing what I was doing. My brow furrowed and I forced myself to completely focus on the task at hand.

I came across a shoe box underneath Lance's bed, covered in dust and cobwebs. I blew it off, coughing as a billow of dust rose into the air. Lance blinked and sat down beside me, slightly curious as to what the contents of the box were. After questioning him, I discovered that he didn't remember the box had been there. I opened the box to reveal several photos. I selected one of him and his family, another with him and Coran, and a third with him, Allura, and Shiro. Lance looked at the pictures in bewilderment, making me grimace.

"Do you recognize any of these pictures?" I asked. He shook his head slowly. I held up the picture of him and Coran together for him to see. Coran had an arm wrapped around his shoulders whilst the other ruffled his hair. Both were in mid laugh, forever frozen in a moment of joy. Lance's fingers hovered over Coran's face and his expression saddened greatly.

"We were close, weren't we?" he said quietly, and I nodded. "Coran sees you as a son. He loves you and cares about you very much, and you loved him like a father," I replied. Lance grimaced and shook his head. "Why did I forget him if he's so important to me?" he muttered under his breath. I really had no idea how to answer him, and I instead showed him the picture of him with Allura and Shiro. He smiled upon seeing Shiro's familiar face and his eyes quickly flitted over to see Allura.

"Remember the lions? Well, Allura's home planet, Altea, is where they came from. We met her and Coran when your lion led us to the Castle of the Lions. She fell on top of you and then insulted your ears," I said with a snicker. Lance chuckled softly and looked at the picture studying Allura's face. His eyes widened for a moment and then he hissed in pain, dropping the picture and grabbing at his hair. I reached out instinctively, my eyes wide, but he shook his head.

"I-I'm okay... I just get this really weird pain in my head when you ask me to remember stuff," Lance muttered, taking a shaky breath and letting go of his hair. I nodded in understanding and picked up the picture, setting it back in the box with the other picture. The last one I had picked was of Lance and his parents.

I hesitated for a moment, not knowing how Lance would react. He thought his entire family was dead! Taking a shaky breath, I handed Lance the photo. His face twisted into a pained expression and he tried to shove the photograph away, but I wasn't about to give up so easily. My expression hardening, I swatted his hands aside and held it up in front of his face.

"These are your parents, yes?" I asked. Lance let out a pained whimper and nodded, looking away. I grimaced before forcing him to look at the photo. "And you have other family members you lived with, yes? Your siblings, grandparents, aunt, and uncle all lived with you?" Lance nodded again, his eyes swimming with tears. I almost gave up right then. I could tell that this was hell for him. But, I couldn't give up! Lance needed to know that his family was up! Lance needed to know that his family was okay.

"They aren't dead. They're still alive." Lance's eyes opened wide and he gaped at me for a moment before his face fell and he shook his head.

"No, they're dead. I saw them all die. This photo has to be fake! They died when I was a kid! Th-The Galra... they said that they were dead..." Lance's voice was soft and strained as he told me this, holding back tears. I shook my head and gripped his shoulder tightly, making him look up at me.

"They're alive, Lance. They're alive and well, and they miss you," I said. Lance shook his head, his expression so conflicted I almost questioned what I was saying. He swallowed hard and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at me.

"Prove it."


	23. Chapter 22

Lance's POV:

Keith gritted his teeth and grabbed me by the wrist, yanking me to my feet and running out of the room. I stumbled and tried to keep up with Keith, my weak legs almost giving out beneath me. Keith sighed and slowed down slightly so that I could keep up with him. I said nothing, merely keeping my eyes trained to the floor and trying not to wrench away from Keith's grip. I was practically burning with rage, but I couldn't bring myself to say that to Keith.

To my surprise, Keith led me to the holodeck and approached the center. The darkness reminded me of the torture chamber back at the Galran ship and I shivered, keeping close to Keith. He patted my shoulder reassuringly and pressed my hand against the weird pedestal-looking thing in the middle of the room. I blinked rapidly as a cold shock rushed through my body and a hologram appeared. It was fuzzy, and the voices in the hologram were crackling. Keith's brow furrowed and he shifted slightly. Why was Keith showing this to me?

The hologram started to clear, showing a man in his early twenties. He was grinning from ear to ear, his shaggy brown hair hanging almost to his shoulders. He started talking rapidly in Spanish to someone out of the field of view, holding the baseball in his hands above his head. I bit my lip, recognizing him as my older brother Ernesto, a pretty cheerful guy. He had been one of the first people to die in my family. The memory was fuzzy, but I remembered that he had committed suicide. It had left my entire family heart broken. But, in the hologram, Ernesto was older than when he had died.

"¡*Lanza! ¡**Piensa rápido!" Ernesto said with a laugh, throwing the ball as far as he could. The view of the hologram changed and it showed me running after the ball, laughing. That was impossible! I was the same age as I was now, meaning this was a recent memory. Ernesto had died before I was this old. I shook my head, my expression hardening. This couldn't be real. The memory changed, this time with a Little girl and boy. They were my cousins, Veronica and Alejandro. They died in a car crash, along with my aunt and uncle. Once again, they were with me in the memory, hanging off of my arms and squealing happily. I was swinging them around in a circle, clearly exhausted but still having fun. I watched in amazement as I set them down, wiping fake sweat off of my forehead and exaggeratedly panting for breath, making them both start giggling uncontrollably.

"***¡Otra vez Lanza, otra vez!" Alejandro squealed, pulling on the hem of my memory self's shirt. He wagged his finger at him, winking, before taking both of their hands and leading them back in the house. They chatted away about something I couldn't quite make out, and they all seemed so happy. I had to fight back tears. As the third memory resurfaced, I recognized my elder sister, Maricela. She had committed suicide like Ernesto out of grief when he died. She was rolling out some sort of dough, her arms caked in flour up to her elbows.

My memory-self stood beside her, looking at the dough with curiosity. Once again, the two of us were too old for this to be a genuine memory. I shook my head, almost taking my hand off of the pedestal. Keith quickly put his hand on my wrist, preventing me from doing so. I rolled my eyes and looked back at the memory. It changed again, this time revealing me with my grandparents, Linda and Manuel. I sat in front of my grandfather on the floor, looking up at him with wonder in my eyes despite the fact that I was nearly 15 years old in the memory. He was retelling one of my favorite scary stories, using different voices and sound effects as he went along. I grimaced as their deaths came back to mind. He'd died of a stroke, and she'd had a heart attack about a month later.

I nearly burst into tears, and my shoulders were beginning to shake. This was torture. I wanted to stop seeing these fake memories and stop the pain. Didn't Keith understand that I had been through enough without having fake happiness down my throat?! Unless, the memories weren't fake, and the things I had stored in my mind were fake. Keith had explained my condition to me earlier, how I'd been in a coma for a day and close to death. He'd told me about the needles in the collars and the drugs that were constantly being injected into my blood stream. And then, there was Coran and Allura, two people Keith had claimed I knew and yet I had no recollection of. Could these things truly be a side effect of the drug?

"Do you believe me now?" Keith asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked back at the memory of my grandfather telling me a scary story and my grandmother sitting beside him. I felt a sort of tug at the back of my mind, as if it was trying to retrieve something. The ache I felt whenever I tried to remember Allura came back, not nearly as forceful, but still there. I winced and gingerly placed my fingers on my temples.

"I'm not sure yet, but I do know that there's got to be some truth in what you say. My family... they would never have let themselves die as easily as my mind said they did. I don't know if they're alive like you say they are, but I'm pretty sure they didn't die the ways I remember them dying," I said, trying to sound like I wasn't a psychopath. Keith grinned in response and clapped me on the back as if to say, 'It's a start!' I smiled slightly and allowed myself to be taken away from the holodeck, led back out into the blinding light of the outside world. I squinted slightly as my eyes adjusted, looking at Keith all the while. I honestly had no idea how he put up with me sometimes, but I was glad he did. And I guess, in a way, he was slowly but surely saving me. Bit by small bit, he would get back the old Lance that the Galra had taken away.

*Spanish for spear/what google translate said was the Hispanic form of Lance

**Think fast! (Spanish)

***Again Lance, again! (Spanish)


	24. Chapter 23

Hunk's POV:

News of Lance's awakening had quickly gotten to Shiro, Allura, and I through Pidge, who had graciously refrained from also telling them about how Lance could have potentially died. Now, the four of us were working on a way to recreate Lance's bond with Blue so that he could reach her, and she could pinpoint his location. Hopefully, it would work and Lance would soon be able to be a paladin again. Pidge and I had decided to create a headset, which would interfere with Lance's brain waves and make a telepathic connection to his lion.

"How's your part coming, Pidge? I'm almost done with the circuits," I called to Pidge, who was on the other side of my bedroom. She looked up from where she was sitting at my desk, her face smudged with a bit of oil. She beamed at me and gave me a thumbs up before turning back to her work. I smiled and finished wiring the circuits as quickly as I could, wanting to get the headset done. Now, all Pidge and I had to do was wire the two parts together and boom! The headset would be done.

"Do you really think it will work?" Allura asked, looking over Pidge's shoulder as she worked the two pieces together with a screwdriver. The headset resembled something out of a sci-fi film, a headband sort of item with lots of attachments and gadgets. Pidge held it up proudly when she was finished, nodding in satisfaction.

"It'll definitely work! Hunk and I are probably the greatest engineers ever. Besides, tech is totally my thing." I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to tell her not to be so prideful. Allura smiled at Pidge's response though, and went out to go fetch Shiro, Coran, Keith, and Lance. I shifted, slightly uncomfortable with the silence that fell over the room as the princess left. Pidge tapped her fingers on the desk and hummed an unfamiliar tune under her breath.

"So... Have you heard anything about Lance from Keith?" Pidge suddenly asked, looking over at me with curiosity. I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of how to answer. I had heard from Coran that Lance wasn't exactly all right in the head, but that he should be fine. I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news once more and tell Pidge that our friend may or may not be insane. I sighed with relief as Allura returned with the others. Lance grinned at the two of us, making my heart skip a beat. That was the first time I'd really seen him smile since his first day back! Swallowing hard, I held up the headset for him to see.

"Pidge and I have been working on this for a while. If it does what we hope it will do, you'll be able to contact Blue. She'll be able to find out where we are in the galaxy and you'll have your lion back!" I said, slightly proudly. Lance's face lit up and he tackled us both in a hug, thanking us over and over again. Pidge hugged him back awkwardly and I did the same, trying not to crush her small frame between us. After separating, I picked up the headset and gently put it on Lance, being careful not to bend or break the delicate space metal.

"All you have to do now is conjure in your mind a message to Blue. Do it repeatedly until it reaches her and she responds," Pidge instructed. Lance nodded and closed his eyes as if to get better effect. His face twisted in concentration and I could almost see little wheels turning in his head. Lance started to quiver, his brow furrowing.

Lance's POV:

Nothing was coming to mind. I had no idea what to say to Blue. Oh, hey! Sorry for leaving you to die on a Galran ship, but could you come back? We kind of need you! Yeah, there was no way I was going to say something like that. She would literally kill me. I tried to think of something to say, and I could almost feel the pressure and strain on my weakened mind. I fought to remain conscious and come up with a message. Maybe...

All I needed to do was call her name.

 _Blue!_ No response came. _Blue! It's me, Lance!_ My head was hollow with silence. I bit my lip and took a shaky breath. _Blue! Answer me! Are you okay?!_ I practically shouted in my mind, straining to hear a response. I heard a soft purr and my breathing hitched.

 **L-Lance?** a weak voice called out softly. I grinned in excitement, my thoughts turning into flashes of colors and light. The bond was reforming! Blue whined softly as the flashes grew more constant and violent. **Too bright!** she hissed, and I almost laughed. Almost. I could feel my mind slowly beginning to mend, memories that had gone missing slowly falling back into place. Faces swam into my vision; my parents, my siblings, my cousins, my aunt and uncle, my grandparents! They were all there! Allura came next, a flurry of memories in her wake. All of the good times we'd had together came rushing into my mind and I grinned. Coran appeared, but my memories with him were... vague. I knew who he was, and how important he was to me, but the memories were no longer there to back up my thoughts. I blinked back tears and tried to focus on the task at hand.

 _Do you think you can get off of the ship and find me, Blue?_ I asked the lion, slightly concerned that she was too weak. A soft groan was my first reply and my stomach dropped. **It's too hard... everything hurts so much. They took me apart... I-I don't even know what I am anymore,** Blue whispered, and I gasped softly. Zarkon had wanted to destroy Voltron. When Blue said that the Galra took her apart, did that mean... she was destroyed?!

 _Blue, listen to me! You've got to get off that ship! We need you, okay?! We need you to form Voltron!_ I shouted in my mind, and I didn't know how long I would be able to hold my tears back. I felt dread slowly begin to seep into my mind, but it was mixed with a slight sensation of hope. **I...I can try, Lance, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it.** Excitement filled my very being and I nodded eagerly in response, grinning. Blue seemed to sense my emotions and she purred softly, and I could feel her happiness.

 _Come on Blue! You can do it!_ I screamed, and I felt a surge as Blue let out a loud roar. I closed my eyes tight, trying to see what she could see. As our bond steadily strengthened, I could see her standing in the midst of a Galra army, all of which were laughing at her distorted form, pointing their fingers at her and jeering. She let loose another loud roar and broke free of the chains that kept her to the floor, dashing out through the men. I cheered as she knocked them over left to right, completely obliterating them within seconds.

 **I'm going to make it!** She shouted with joy, her body rippling and surging with newfound energy. Troops of Galras were shouting amongst each other, shooting at her, and trying to prevent her from getting to the hangers. But, it was impossible, because once Blue put her mind to something nothing would get in her way. As she bounded towards the hangers, I sucked in my breath, preparing for the worst or best outcome. She tore through the metal doors of the hanger as if they were made of paper, launching off into space. I suddenly felt dizzy and my knees buckled from underneath me. I fell flat on the ground, laughing and grinning like a lunatic. I couldn't see the others. All I could see was Blue in all of her glory, flying back to me; flying back home.


	25. Chapter 24

Keith's POV:

When Lance collapsed, I thought something had gone wrong. I panicked, rushing to his side and starting to shake him. But then I saw the huge grin and the tears of joy on his face. His body was shaking with laughter, and he looked so happy. Sure, there was a possibility that Hunk and Pidge's invention had shattered Lance's mind, but I could see the genuine happiness in Lance's eyes. Hunk and Pidge's stupid, crappy looking invention had actually worked and Blue was on her way over. Lance started gasping and he came to, sitting upright and looking around the room.

"B-Blue...?" he croaked, and I put an arm around his shoulders. "She's on her way Lance, don't worry. Blue will be here soon," I said gently, hoping he understood. Lance smiled in a daze and nodded, leaning heavily against my side. "Blue... Blue will be here soon. I can't wait to see her," he muttered. I nodded and helped him to his feet, talking to him in small sentences when needed. It was almost as if his mind was fresh and raw, and he was just seeing the world. It reminded me a bit of how a young child would act, which made me laugh. Coran was quickly at my side, observing Lance with concern.

"Is he going to be alright?' he asked, his tone hushed, turning to Hunk and Pidge. Hunk nodded before replying, "Yeah, he should be completely fine in a few minutes. The headset just sort of interfered with his brain waves, so he's going to act a bit weird." Coran nodded in understanding and was about to add something when Lance reached out and gently touched his face, a look of guilt carved into his expression.

"Sorry," he murmured softly, pulling Coran into a tight hug and nuzzling into his chest. "Sorry Coran... Sorry," he whispered, and I could've sworn he started to tear up. Coran's brow furrowed in a mix of sadness and relief and he returned Lance's embrace.

"It's alright Lance... You did nothing wrong. I'm not mad," Coran said. Lance shook his head. "Forgot you... very sad... I made you sad," Lance said, his tone laced with regret. Coran chuckled and hesitated before kissing Lance on top of the head, which made the boy smile.  
"There's no need to make yourself feel bad about it, my *hijo," Coran said in a playful tone. Lance beamed and looked up at him with shining eyes. "Hijo... You called me hijo!" Lance giggled, and Coran smiled softly. He said nothing else, but let go of Lance and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"That's right. Now, why don't we go see if your lion is here yet?" Lance nodded eagerly and followed Coran out of the room towards Blue's hanger. Hunk and Pidge were stifling back giggles while Shiro and Allura just looked a little grossed out and confused.

"What the heck was that about?" Shiro muttered, shaking his head slightly. Allura shrugged helplessly, unable to reply for probably the first time in her life. I glared at them and resisted the urge to punch them all in the gut, which I shouldn't have done. They just didn't understand. I would have to tell them later. I gestured for them to all follow me and I dashed off after the pair, but I made sure to keep my distance. The alarms began to blare, signaling a un-permissioned landing in one of the hangers. Lance started to jump around Coran in circles, giggling and whooping in joy. Coran laughed at his childish antics and ruffled his hair. We came to Blue's hanger and Lance eagerly awaited by the door for Coran to open it.

"Are you ready?" Coran asked with a grin, resting his hands on the door. Lance nodded eagerly, his eyes lit up with excitement. Coran chuckled before pushing the doors open. Blue stood in the middle of the hanger proudly, looking absolutely magnificent despite the severe damage to her. Every scratch, every missing piece, and every out of place thing about her only seemed to make her seem more regal. She had truly made the ultimate sacrifice. Lance suddenly burst into tears and ran forward, collapsing against one of her paws and hugging as much of it as he could, which wasn't much to say. He looked so tiny and frail by her, and I realized just how vulnerable we all were. Lance sniffled loudly and looked up at her, grinning through his tears.

"I missed you," he said quietly. He started to have a telepathic conversation with her, leaving the room in absolute silence. Lance was crying harder than ever by the end of it, but he no longer seemed childish. His mind had been healed by the bond he and his lion shared.

"Thank you, Blue!" he cried. "Thank you so much." I smiled fondly at the two of them as Lance poured out the long awaited gratitude to Blue. Hunk came to my side, smiling with just as much fondness as I was. Wow, hadn't I turned into a puddle of mush! When Lance and Blue had talked enough and caught up with one another, Lance turned to all of us with a hopeful expression.

"I was wondering if I could sleep here tonight. You know... with Blue," he said, looking down at the ground shyly. Of course, we all agreed to it, as long as he let us all join him. He of course laughed and said yes, jokingly saying that he missed the sleepovers he used to have with his friends as a kid. I headed back with Hunk to grab a bunch of pillows and blankets for everyone.

"Lance has really brought us together, hasn't he?" Hunk said, smiling down at me. I nodded, but chose not to reply. Neither of us needed to say in words how glad we were to have Lance as a friend. He was literally the glue that kept all of us together, whether we liked it or not.

*son (Spanish)


	26. Chapter 25

WARNING: Hints at non-con, contains no graphic descriptions

Lance's POV:

To be honest, I was relieved when Keith offered the idea that all of us sleep together in Blue's hanger. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Blue now that I finally had her back, but I was still a bit disturbed by the thought of having to sleep in such a large, open space with just her. And so, there we were, all of us bundled up together at the base of her paw, wrapped up in numerous pillows and blankets. I was in between Coran and Pidge, who were both already snoring softly. Coran was clutching a pillow to his chest in the same way a child would hold a teddy bear and Pidge was sleeping with three fingers stuck in her mouth. Shiro was next to Pidge, his arms wrapped around Allura as she used his chest as a pillow. Hunk was on the other side of Coran, snoring so loudly that Blue was vibrating slightly. Keith was at my feet, snoring softly and gnawing slightly at my shoe. I snickered, immediately thinking of different ways I could blackmail them all.

 **Go to sleep Lance,** Blue said with a soft chuckle, and I stuck my lip out in a fake pout. _But I'm not-_ I yawned loudly _–tired! I feel perfectly fine!_ Even as I said the words, my eyes began to grow heavy and I leaned back against Blue's paw. She laughed lightly again and I shifted against her, getting as comfortable as I could. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. As a kid, I always had nightmares. In fact, I couldn't remember one good dream I'd had as a kid. As I slowly progressed into my teenage years, the nightmares became less and less frequent. Whenever I had one, they would be really, really bad. Unfortunately, tonight was one of those nights.

I was back in the torture chamber, but this time I was hanging from the ceiling by my wrists. I remembered a moment like this clearly, and I was forced to watch on in horror as the events of my past played out. Gorerage entered the torture chamber with that familiar smug look on his face, a whip clutched tightly in his hand. My past-self whimpered softly, but made no movements to try and get away from Gorerage.

"You have become more obedient, I see. Good pet~" he purred, approaching my past self and running a hand over his thigh. His breathing hitched and he started trembling, his eyes wide. Gorerage laughed cruelly and gripped him by the waist, the whip still in his hands. Dream-Lance breathed in heavy gasps, shaking as Gorerage reached towards the hem of his tattered pants. I looked away, clenching my eyes shut and clamping my hands over my ears. My past self's screams were barely muffled and I started to shake, tears streaming down my face. Gorerage's groans and laughter flooded my ears and I curled up on the ground. Dream-Lance's screams soon died down and Gorerage left, the door clanging shut and locking behind him. I glanced back to see myself hanging limply, sobbing softly. I screamed.

Keith's POV:

I yelped as I was thrown out of my sleep; literally. Lance was kicking and flailing, making me be flung backwards. I growled slightly and sat up, rubbing my head where it had smacked into the floor. My eyes widened as they fell on Lance. He was still writhing, but this time I could see the tears staining his face. Hunk and Pidge had woken up because of his thrashing too, and were trying to wake him up.

"Lance! Lance, wake up! Come on, man!" Hunk exclaimed, shaking Lance so hard I thought he would knock his teeth out. Lance groaned and stopped thrashing, but he was still shaking and crying, clinging to Hunk's shirt in his sleep. I scrambled over to him in a panic, joining Hunk's side and trying to wake him up. I took him from Hunk and cradled him in my arms, trying to comfort him into awakening.

"Wake up, Lance. You'll be okay! Just wake up!" I said, resisting the urge to shout at him. Lance's eyes shut open and he screamed, shoving me away and scrambling against Blue's paw, curling up in a shaking ball and sobbing. I reached out a hand, lightly touching his shoulder.

"S-Stay away! Don't touch me!" Lance wailed, and I recoiled, grimacing. Coran had awoken by now as well and he quickly woke up the others, after which he moved in front of Lance so that he could see him. Being careful to stay a few feet away and not touch him, Coran looked at Lance firmly.

"No one is going to hurt you. You're perfectly alright and safe," Coran said, his voice unwavering. Lance looked up at him with tear filled eyes. For a moment, it looked as if he was going to start sobbing again, or that he would remain in a curled up ball. Instead, he took a shaky breath and sat up, a fake smile on his lips.

"Ha... I woke you guys up, didn't I? Sorry about that! I was just having a bad dream. It's no big deal!" he said with a laugh, but the pain laced in his words made my expression harden. "No big deal my foot! You were screaming and flailing everywhere!" I snapped, making Lance flinched. He looked down at his feet and shrugged, settling back against Blue's paw.

"I said it's not a big deal, and I mean it! I'm not a little kid who can't handle a bad dream. I'm fine," Lance hissed, and I gaped at him in shock. Lance had _hissed?!_ I'd never heard him do that. It was too out of character for him! I nearly started a shouting match with him when Hunk gave me a stern look.

"I think that's enough, don't you? We all should probably get back to sleep. Lance, you too." Lance huffed but nodded in agreement and tried to get as comfortable as he could against Blue. He refused to look me in the eye as I laid back next to him, my brow furrowed in concern.

"You know you can talk to me if something's up, right? I won't make fun of you... you can tell me anything," I said. Lance rolled his eyes and shifted so that his back was to me. I bit my lip and buried my face back into my makeshift pillow. Lance could be such a stubborn idiot sometimes...


	27. Chapter 26

Lance's POV:

To say that the next morning was stressful would be an understatement. As soon as we all got up and started taking care of all of the stuff we'd brought into Blue's hanger, everyone kept giving me pitying glances and tried to get me to talk about them. Why couldn't they just understand that I didn't want to talk about my nightmare?! It brought back bad memories and I would rather avoid talking about it! I stalked off to the bathrooms, grumbling under my under my breath the entire way. A hot shower would do me some good... maybe it would help calm my nerves or something.

The hot water was soothing as it ran down my bare back, and I closed my eyes, leaning my head back slightly. I felt filthy, even after washing myself several times. But it wasn't uncleanliness from dirt. It was more... inside of me. It was as if my soul was turning inside out, flipping and becoming darker and darker. My nightmare had triggered something inside of me. I had seen myself, so vulnerable and fragile. I had let myself be dominated in a way no should be. I was broken, a piece of filth, trash even. I was disgusting.

The water had started to go cold so I stepped out, quickly drying myself. As I ruffled my hair with a towel, my eyes fell on the mirror. I was taken aback at what I saw. To be honest, I knew I was messed up, but I still expected it to be me. But all I saw in that mirror was a pale, scarred, frightened teenager. As I observed all of the scars covering me I shuddered violently, more memories resurfacing of Gorerage and his sessions, as he liked to call them. That same feeling of despicable uncleanliness filled my chest and I started to tremble, my eyes unable to leave the...the _creature_ I saw in the mirror. That wasn't me... that couldn't be me!

"Lance?" someone called, knocking on the bathroom door. "Are you in there?" I recognized the voice as Pidge's and I quickly got dressed, trying to avoid looking into the mirror at all costs. When I was dressed in a simple blue shirt and black pants I peeked my head out. Pidge was standing in front of the bathroom door, a slight blush on her face as she held a bundle behind her back. Realization hit me like a truck and I quickly gathered my things and left the bathroom, muttering apologies. She chuckled slightly before hurrying into the bathroom behind me.

After putting my things back into my room, I quickly made my way to the dining room. My stomach was growling and I realized just how hungry I was. Hopefully Coran wasn't cooking today. If I remembered correctly, his food tasted okay but had a really bad texture and smell. You know; typical alien stuff. The dining room fell silent when I entered and I awkwardly took a seat next to Keith, wrinkling my nose slightly as I pulled a bowl of Coran's green space goo.

"How are you feeling?" Hunk asked from where he sat across from me. I shrugged and swirled my fork around in my food, suddenly losing my appetite that I had had moments before. I didn't miss the concerned glance I received from them all. Allura cleared her throat before getting to her feet.

"I've decided that we should resume training today. We'll begin in the invisible maze-" My breathing hitched and I froze "- and then try to fly our lions." My fist clenched slightly and the groans that followed Allura's statement barely registered. Electricity... There was no way I couldn't handle that. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. As long as I listened to whoever my leader was, I would be fine.

"Lance, do you want to start us off?" Allura asked me, and I flinched. "Uh... yeah, sure, I don't see why not," I muttered in response, my eyes cast down. Allura smiled and nodded in approval.

"Keith, will you lead him?" Keith nodded, looking directly at me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and fought the urge to bolt out of the room right then and there. The others got to their feet and headed to the training deck, chatting among them. I got up and followed behind quietly, not really sure of what I was going to do. I couldn't just not do the training... I didn't want to appear weak in front of everyone. I could do this! It was just a simple exercise. Besides, I was probably just overreacting. The feelings of dread soon returned however as soon as I entered the maze room. I put on the com that would allow to hear Keith as he gave me instructions and took a shaky breath, waiting. Keith was adjusting his own equipment, looking out over the maze that only he could see.

"Alright Lance, let's do this. Take three steps forward and turn about 90 degrees to the left," Keith ordered. Swallowing hard, I cautiously took three steps and turned as he instructed. I yelped as a small jolt of electricity shot through me and I stumbled back, thankfully not hitting another one of the walls in the process.

"Okay, you just overturned a little bit, that's okay. From where you are, you need to turn until you face the back wall and then take two steps," Keith said, trying to keep his tone encouraging. Shaking, I slowing turned to face the wall. I gritted my teeth and braced myself for another electric shock, but none came. I nearly sobbed with relief before taking the two steps forward. Keith cheered and I smiled a bit.

"Great job! Now, take a side step to the right." I obliged, trembling. Another volt of electricity lightly stung me and I screamed, stumbling and succeeding in stumbling into another wall. The mild shock was enough to send me reeling again, hitting multiple walls. I curled up on the floor, shaking and gasping for breath. Surprisingly I wasn't crying, but my heart was racing with terror. I wanted to scream at myself. The electric shocks hadn't even hurt! But here I was, panicking.

"Lance!" Keith hollered, and I heard the maze shut down. I whimpered softly as I heard Keith running down from the overview to where I was on the floor. He turned me over and gripped me tightly by the shoulders, trying to calm me down. My breathing slowed slightly, but my heart was still pounding.

"Why don't we just... skip training for now, okay? At least this... We could have a go with the training drones," Keith suggested, helping me to my feet. I nodded silently, my eyes staring straight ahead.


	28. Chapter 27

Keith's POV:

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. It had started with the nightmare last night. And then there was breakfast; Lance always ate more than all of us combined, and he hadn't even eaten a spoonful this morning. Then, there was the maze. He'd completely panicked, just by the slightest touch against the walls. His grip on my hand was loose and he stared ahead with glazed eyes. I was so worried about him. It was as if the events of yesterday never even happened; as if Lance's memories had never returned. The way he walked reminded me of a machine; every step seemed planned out and heavy.

"Lance? Are you okay?" I asked tentatively. Lance merely shrugged. "Come on, answer me... What freaked you out so much in the maze?" I made my voice softer in an attempt to coax the answer out of him. Instead he stiffened, his entire body going rigid and stopping dead in his tracks. He finally looked up and met my gaze, and his eyes were filled with _fear._ Swallowing hard, I repeated the question. Lance slowly shook his head and started to back away, his eyes wide and his small frame shaking.  
"Lance...?" He turned and bolted, not even chancing a glance at me.

Lance's POV:

To say that I was panicking while I was running was an understatement. Keith's voice had just seemed too cautious, too caring to be Keith. Not-Keith's voice had been just like that, dripping with fake sympathy as he smirked and watched me get tortured. I had felt my mind start to once again become obscured, and voices whispered in the dark corners of my mind. Coran's face, laugh, and voice had completely disappeared and I was struggling to remember what the other's faces looked like. The voices were so loud now, they were earsplitting. They said nothing, just wailed and screamed hysterically.

I collapsed to my knees, my entire body shuddering. I sobbed out in utter grief until my throat was raw. Only two faces swam in my vision; both young men about my age. One looked like a human teddy bear, with a huge grin. His darker skin matched his hair and eyes. The other was pale with tousled black hair. He wasn't smiling, but I could see the smile in his eyes. My friends... I knew they were my friends, but when did we meet?! Who were they?! It was like looking through a camera lens that wouldn't quite focus. The images were there, but they were blurry and faded in and out of view.

I screamed as my body collapsed against the cold ground and twitched violently, bile rising up and spewing out of my mouth. I was going to die. I was going to die in this strange place, with no one. Black began to tinge my vision and I fought to stay conscious, staring down at the floor in horror as the bile rising up in my throat became blood. Splattered against the white of the floor, it looked eerily beautiful. The voices laughed and I screamed again in terror. The faces all returned, and my heartbeat began to slow, my body moving sluggishly. Pidge, Shiro, Hunk, Coran, Allura, my family, and... The last to appear was Keith, my best friend. My blood stained lips parted in a gentle smile. Pulling my Bayard out of my belt, I chose the sword option and stabbed myself in the stomach without a moment's hesitation. I gasped and curled up, keeping the sword in my stomach and my friend's faces in my mind. I couldn't risk forgetting them again. I would die with them being the last image burned into my mind. My body jolted one last time before I went still, the world around me going black, forever.

Keith's POV:

Loud screams echoed through the halls and my eyes shot open. I sat bolt upright in my bed and threw off my covers, tugging on some clothes over my bare chest and boxers before running out of the room. I strained to hear where the sobs and screams were coming from. I hoped with all of my heart that it wasn't Lance. After he'd run off, we all had agreed to leave him be. I skidded around a corner and ran faster, slightly crazed.

"KEITH! HUNK! SHIRO! CORAN! ALLURA! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!" the voice that had been crying screeched, making me grimace. The distress in Pidge's voice and the lack of Lance's name being mentioned made my heart drop and I ran at top speed, praying to every deity I knew of that Lance was okay. I finally skidded to a stop and immediately wished I hadn't. My eyes widened and welled up with tears as I saw the sight before me.

A sobbing Pidge sat in a pool of blood and bile, clutching Lance tightly to her chest. Lance's Bayard, stuck on sword mode, protruded through his chest and out his back. Blood still dripped from the gaping wound and added to what had collected on Pidge's clothes and the floor. His face was as pale as... well... death. A slight, eerie smile still danced across his lips. His chest was still, the comforting rising and falling of his breathing absent. I fell to my knees in shock, tears slowly beginning to fall down my face. Was Lance really dead? He couldn't be! My shoulders started to shake and I gritted my teeth. When Pidge saw me she looked up at me, her eyes shining with tears. She looked too different. The boyish, tough side of her had given way to her sensitive side, one she barely showed.

"Lance k...killed... LANCE KILLED HIMSELF!" Pidge screamed, her eyes wide and filled with grief. She sobbed harder, burying her face in Lance's hair and trying not to scream again. Forcing myself to move, I crawled next to Pidge and gently pried Lance out of her arms, taking a deep breath before pulling her into an embrace. She instinctively clutched the front of my shirt, burying her face in my chest to muffle her sobs.

"He's gone... I-I can't believe he's gone!" Pidge cried in a mournful tone. I cradled the back of her head whilst my other arm stayed securely around her shoulders. I could feel the small, hot droplets raining down from my cheeks into her hair, but I didn't care. I held on to Pidge for what seemed like hours until she finally calmed down, hiccupping softly and loosening her grip on my shirt.

"We have to tell the others, and... his body... We can't just leave him here," Pidge said softly, pushing me away gently and wiping her eyes with a sniffle. I nodded and said nothing, instead gently taking the Bayard and pulling it out of Lance slowly, being careful not to damage anything further. The Bayard turned to its original state and I tossed it aside, gently taking Lance into my arms and standing up. His blood immediately began to seep into my clothes and I gritted my teeth at how cold it felt against my skin. Lance hung limply in my arms and his head lolled to the side. I moved forward with purpose, staring straight ahead. Pidge trailed behind me, her eyes trained to the floor. Neither of us wanted this to happen. Neither of us wanted to be the bearers of bad news either. But if we had to, then so be it.


	29. Chapter 28

Hunk's POV:

I groaned as someone started to violently shake me, shouting my name and other annoying things. I swatted the hand away, grunting softly and turning over so that my head was buried in my pillow. I heard an annoyed sigh and then screeched as the blankets were yanked off of me, exposing me to the cold air. I quickly curled up, shivering slightly from the cold, and glared up at the intruder. Pidge stared back at me with a sullen expression, clutching my blankets tightly in her clenched fists.

"Get up, it's an emergency," Pidge murmured softly before casting the blankets aside and leaving the room. I raised an eyebrow and shrugged before getting off of my bed and pulling on the first set of clothes I could find. Yawning widely, I left my room and headed down to the control room. The room was silent when I got there, standing around in a huddled mass.

"Geeh, what's with the long faces everybody? Who died?" I said jokingly. Allura wailed and collapsed into Coran's arms, sobbing. I stepped back, taken aback by Allura's sudden mood swing. It was just a figure of speech! And then, I saw them. Keith stood in the center of the room next to the table Lance had laid out on as Coran tried to find a cure for him. Lo and behold, there he was again, except this time he wasn't breathing, and there was a gaping hole in his chest as if he'd been stabbed.

"O-Oh," was all I managed to say as I stumbled forward, leaning heavily against the table when I approached it. Lance's face was a pale mask of peace, and he looked like he could have been sleeping. My arms started to tremble as I noticed the small smile still etched on his face and I fell to my knees, silent tears of despair welling up in my eyes. I had the urge to vomit and I groaned, doubling over and clutching my stomach. A gentle hand rested on the small of my back, rubbing circles in it to help calm me down. I glanced up to see none other than Keith, who looked a bit sick himself.

"I-I know... I know you're probably upset, but things'll get better," Keith murmured, and I growled. I threw his arm off of me, shoving him backwards and getting to my feet. Keith looked down at his feet and hurriedly backed away.

"How _dare you!"_ I screamed. "How dare you say things will get better! Lance is dead!" Everyone turned and stared at me in shock, but I didn't care. I was so filled with rage I didn't even feel like myself anymore. I was so tempted to bring back my fist and punch Keith square in the jaw, but I couldn't do it. Lance would never have forgiven me if he were here. I simply turned back to his body, resting my hand on his ice cold forehead.

"I'm sorry," Keith said, his voice firm, but holding a genuine apology. I nodded in reply, deciding to not say anything else. Keith cleared his throat briefly before speaking again.

"How are we going to tell his family? They'll need to know." If my heart hadn't stopped already, it did then. Lance's big, wonderful, happy family had no idea their beloved family member had died. They had no idea where he was or what he was doing, if he was even still in Earth's galaxy, which he hadn't been. I closed my eyes and let out a soft groan, hopeless.

"Lance told me, a long time ago mind you, that he left something for both us and his family in case anything happened and he died. I could find them if you like," Coran butted in, his voice wavering. I hesitated before nodding, and Coran quickly left the room.


	30. Chapter 29

Keith's POV:

Coran came back holding two cartridges, one reading "Family" and the other reading "Space Family". Coran handed the "Space Family" box to me, pulling a note out along with it and pressing it into my hands. My name was written in Lance's familiar handwriting on the front of it. I bit my lip and tucked it into my pocket to read when I was alone. I looked at the "Space Family" box briefly and turned to the others.

"Well, come on. The only reason Lance would have made this is if he had something to tell us," I said, taking the plastic container and walking to the mainframe of the control room with purpose. After a little bit of guidance from Allura and Coran, I managed to plug the cartridge into the mainframe and stood back. Lance appeared on the screen, a confused look on his face.

"Is...Is this working. I can't tell. Ah, there we go!" He sat up straight, grinning at an unseen camera. "Hey guys, Lance here! If you're watching this then... Well, then that means something went wrong. I died," Lance said, his smile fading slightly and his shoulders slumping. Pidge let out a muffled sob and clamped a hand over her mouth quickly.

"A-Anyways, there are so many things I want to tell each of you individually. I saved them all up until now because that way, if anything happened between us, you wouldn't have to know unless I died. And now we're here, so you guys do care!" Lance said, his voice once again cheerful.

"Who to start with... I think I'll just go with whomever pops into my head first." He thought for a moment. "So that means I get to talk about Pidge first!" Pidge sniffled and looked back up at the screen. Lance was wearing a gentle smile, his eyes soft.  
"I'm glad I knew you Pidge. When I first got to know you at the Garrison, I could tell you were really nervous. I realize now that it was probably because you were afraid someone would find out you were a girl, but back then I thought it was because you were worried to make new friends. So, I tried getting to know you. And I mean, having you assigned to my flight team certainly helped a lot. Either way, I'm glad we met. You're one of the smartest, nicest, most kick-butt fourteen year old's I've ever met, and there's one thing I want you to know, above all else, before I finish." Pidge leaned forward, listening intently.

"Don't give up on the search for your brother and father. Somehow, I just... I just know that they're out there somewhere, alive. I know what it's like to feel as if you will never see your family again. I think that all the time. So, please do that for me. Don't give up your search." Pidge had started to tear up and I saw her nod slightly out of the corner of my eye.

"Next is... Hunk! Dude, I've known you for pretty much your entire life, and I still don't have you completely figured out. You're a human teddy bear, a great friend, and a brilliant engineer, and I know that those are only a few of your different sides. You, hands down, have the best sense of humour I have ever seen in a person. Most of my jokes come from you!" Lance said with a smile, making Hunk laugh softly.

"But one of the most important things I've learned about you over the years is that you're willing to sacrifice almost anything for the people you care about. For example, when you went back despite what we said to try and save the alien Shay and her people. That takes guts." Hunk's brow furrowed and he tilted his head slightly, listening harder.

"Don't ever lose that part of yourself, okay? Sure, you need to look after yourself and refrain from doing anything so stupid that you die, but the fact that you can stand up for anyone without being scared is one of your strongest qualities, and I respect you for it. Never give that up." Hunk inhaled shakily and nodded.

"Shiro, Space Dad, my man, let's talk about you now!" Shiro chuckled a bit and shook his head slightly. "Before I actually met you, you were my idol. I wanted to be just like you when I grew up. Strong, attractive, a great pilot, brave, kindhearted... You're the whole package. Getting to know you has been one of the greatest opportunities of my life. Not only do I look up to you, but I actually see you as a father figure. You remind me of my dad back on Earth, and it's a bit scary, but it's really helped me cope." Lance's voice started to break and he paused for a moment, taking a few deep breaths.

"I know that I will never begin to understand what you've been through. The things you've seen, the pain you've endured... I can't even fathom it. Don't let your past haunt you forever though. I know that you feel like... since you have a Galran arm, and that you aren't completely stable, I guess, you're worried that you're going to betray us. Don't even think about stuff like that! You're a great person, and an amazing leader." Shiro looked like he was struggling whether or not to laugh, cry, or just smile. Lance suddenly let out a laugh as the next person came to mind.

"Allura, you are really something else, you know that? You're strict and sometimes scary, but you have this really weird maternal side that likes to come out every once in a while. You used to sort of scare me, which is why I tried to make you avoid me by telling all of those pick-up lines, but it didn't really work, and I'm glad. You are a strong leader, and I actually have something very special to ask you at the end of this." Allura's eyes widened slightly in confusion, and she looked like she was about to say something when Lance's recording started to speak again.

"You are a natural born leader. Your father was King Alfor after all, and I can tell that you're going to follow in his footsteps someday. You may be the last known female Altean, and you probably miss your home planet, but you can't let your grief consume you or you're going to lose yourself! Don't let that happen. If you do, I'll never forgive you. Got it?" Lance finished with a playful glare, making Allura laugh a little through the tears that gathered in her eyes.

"Next is... Oh no..." Lance let out a shaky laugh and leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, clearing trying to keep himself together. "Uh...Coran, if I cry, I'm sorry." Coran bit his lip. "Uh...w-well, there's a lot of stuff I could say about you. You're a really happy, cheerful guy despite all of the things you've seen. I really appreciate what you do for me, a-and I wish I told you that more. You are honestly one of the greatest people ever." Coran smiled, folding his arms across his chest and raising one so that his chin rested in the crook between his thumb and index finger. Lance looked like he was about to cry and he took a few more shaky breaths.

"This is going to sound really weird, but whatever. I...I love you, okay? Not in a romantic way or anything, you just... You've always been there for me through everything I've been through, and besides Keith, you're the only one I actually knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that you cared about me. You weren't afraid to show your affection for others and I think that's great about you! So don't give that up just because I'm gone, or because people make fun of you for it." Coran had to turn away at that point, his eyes swimming with tears.

"A-Alright... last person before I get into detail about the thing with Allura is... Keith." My head snapped up and my eyes were suddenly glued to Lance's hologram form. "Keith, I haven't known you for that long, but you're one of the best friends I've ever had. At first, I saw you as just a rival, a huge jerk that made my existence pointless. I guess that's the reason I kept getting into fights with you and denying the fact that we were friends or that we ever shared moments together. Or, as we would call it, bonding moments. I really have no idea what I had against you for all those years, but I knew I was wrong for hating you the minute I realized how sad it made me when you didn't remember me." I grimaced slightly, feeling guilty.

"I really, really care about you. Even if I act like I don't need you or that I hate you, it's not true. I care about you a lot. I'm so glad to have a friend like you. I've known Hunk and Pidge longer than I've known you, but you know me better than both of them and it's incredible. I-I... I love in. N-Not in a romantic way, mind you, but like a brother. Thank you so, so much for being here." I chuckled a bit and sniffed, wiping my eyes on my sleeve.

"And now, I need to tell all of you something pertaining to Allura. You're all probably wondering how you're going to form Voltron since I'm dead and Blue is left without a paladin. Well, I talked it over with Blue just in case something was to happen. She told me that I could pass on my responsibilities to somebody, anyone of my choosing. The person I've chosen to fulfill the responsibility of Blue paladin Allura." Allura gasped slightly, her eyes wide.

"The reason for that is really simple actually. Allura, your father was the first and only Blue paladin before me. He and Coran were the creators of Voltron! Blue was able to show me the history of the of all of the paladins and your father was right in the middle of it. He was really incredible. I think he would have wanted you to take on this responsibility. So yeah, I want you to be the next paladin! I understand if you do not want to take that responsibility, especially since I know how much you believe your responsibility lies with your people, so I have chosen someone else, just in case. I feel like my older brother, Ernesto, would be really good for the job. He fits everything a paladin needs to be, right down to having a big heart. I think you guys would really like him. Yeah, he is not me, but he taught me pretty much everything I know." I smiled a bit and nodded, even though I knew Lance could not really see me.

"Well that pretty much wraps up what I wanted to tell all of you. I hope you guys take to heart what I have told you today, since I mean all of it. I think really highly of you all. Allura, think seriously about what I told you, alright? Don't rush into any decisions. And don't you dare forget to give my video to my family! Keith, I'd like you to do it if you don't mind. Anyways, see you in the next life!" Lance ended with a smile, waving happily at us before the hologram sunk back into the cartridge. I stared at the small box in shock.

"I-I can't... I can't do that!" I exclaimed, shaking my head vigorously. Allura herself seemed worried, pacing back and forth with her arms wrapped around herself in a sort of hug. Coran chuckled and sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"You can, it'll be fine. They aren't going to kill you or anything like that. They don't even have to know you were there. All you need to do is leave it at their doorstep or something for them to find," Hunk muttered, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. I inspected the small box in my hands, comprehending what he'd said. That's when I decided; I would visit Lance's family as soon as I could.


	31. Chapter 30

Keith's POV:

Red touched down in Jaruco, Mayabeque, Cuba. Pedestrians walking along the streets and looking through their windows gawked at me as I climbed out of Red. Approaching the house that I recognized from Lance's pictures, I walked up to it hesitantly. It was small, especially considering how large Lance's family was described to be. The windows and doors were lined with a white trim while the rest of the house was more of an aqua green. The roof was made up of cracking, round tiles. Several plants were in the window sills. Nervously, I knocked.

"¿Hola? ¿Quién es?" A young woman, whom I recognized as Lance's older sister Maricela. I shifted, slightly uncomfortable. "Uh... No hablo mucho español," I said, remembering a bit of my spanish lessons from high school. Maricela laughed, nodding in understanding.

"You speak English then, yes? What are you here for?" she asked, her tone suddenly serious. "I knew your brother, Lance. I have something for you he wanted me to give to you." Maricela's eyes widened and she glanced around hurriedly before grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me inside. I stumbled slightly against the raised step leading into the house and sighed. Maricela quickly turned me to face her, grabbing me by the shoulders so that her nails dug into them. She fixed a glare on her face, as if she were about to interrogate me.

"Where is my brother? Why didn't he come here himself? Is he alright?" Maricela bombarded me with questions, occasionally switching from Spanish to English in her hurry to get them out. I wanted to answer them as best as I could, but the thought of telling this angry-looking Cuban woman that her little brother was dead didn't exactly seem appealing. Instead, I handed her the cartridge labeled "Family" that most likely contained another hologram message from Lance.

"Take this. It's a message from Lance to your entire family. He'll probably explain everything to you in it," I took the cartridge cautiously, turning it over in her hands. She looked over her shoulder and shouted a few phrases in Spanish, heading into another room and beckoning for me to follow. I did so willingly, not wanting to make her angry. The sound of pounding footsteps and loud shouting echoed through the small home and a herd of people I recognized from Lance's memories came into the room.

A young man who was obviously Ernesto went up to Maricela, gesturing to me several times and talking rapidly in Spanish. Maricela rolled her eyes and gave him an annoyed look, but she replied and he made a slight "o" with his mouth before turning to me with a hesitant smile.

"It is nice to meet friend of Lance. You bring message from him?" Ernesto asked in broken English. I nodded and silently gestured to the box in Maricela's hands. He took the box and gave it to the oldest man in the room, Lance's grandfather Manuel. Manuel studied the box with a skeptical eye before nodding in approval and handing it back to Ernesto, who in turn handed it to me.

"You show us how to see message. Please?" Ernesto added the last part after a jab from his sister. "Of course," I muttered, setting the cartridge down on a small table in the middle of the room and pressing a few buttons on the side. Lance's hologram once again appeared and several people in the room gasped, murmuring in disbelief. I huffed in slight annoyance as Lance began to talk in Spanish, his family quieting and listening intently to his speech.

Lance had stopped talking, his eyes swimming with tears. His family was in a similar state, completely silent and trying to hold back tears. When Lance started to talk again, Maricela completely lost it and burst into tears, running from the room. Ernesto got up quickly and followed after her. The rest of the family was crying silently, even the small children, and continued to listen to Lance. I looked at Lance's hologram in amazement, wondering what he could possibly be saying that would reduce them all to tears. When the hologram ended, Lance's father turned to me sharply.

"Was Lance really that close to all of you? He mentioned you so often in his message..." he said, looking into my eyes. I nodded slightly. "We were like a family to him. He never forgot about any of you though. He never stopped talking about any of you. Especially you-" I pointed to his mother "-and Ernesto. In fact, he got really homesick. He would come to me a lot when he needed help dealing with it." Lance's father chuckled softly, wiping his eyes on his shirt.

"That sounds like my little Lanza. He was always too attached to us." I smiled a bit and turned to Lance's mother, who was staring straight ahead and refusing to even glance at me. I approached her and knelt next to her, placing my hand on her arm despite how awkward it seemed. She still refused to even glance my way.

"I don't know what Lance said to you all in the video, but I want you to know that Lance was one of the funniest, most stupidly brave people I ever met. In his last month or so of life, he suffered through a lot. In fact, he died because he took his own life." She flinched and closed her eyes. "It wasn't for any depressing reason. He knew he was loved, and he cared about those he left behind. He just... He couldn't take the memories he had to deal with. That's all. Even I don't think he could have gotten through it," I added quietly. Lance's mother turned to me with tear filled eyes and clasped my hands in hers tightly.

"Thank you for watching my son for me these years he has been gone," she said softly, kissing our clasped hands softly. A lump formed in my throat and I nodded, unable to reply. She let go of my hands and gave me a slight smile. "Lanza said in the video that he wanted you to tell Ernesto something for him. Something about... taking over his responsibilities as a pilot of a Blue lion? The one from the stories we learned as children?" I could hear the worry in her voice, and I didn't blame her. She had just lost one of her three children unwillingly, and now she may be giving up another one.

"Yes, that's true. They aren't stories though. I'm a paladin as well. There is a red, black, yellow, green, and blue paladin. They're all robotic lions that you can pilot like ships, and when joined together they form Voltron, a powerful weapon. Lance was chosen to be the Blue Paladin. Ernesto doesn't have to be the next paladin if he doesn't want to; Allura, the daughter of the man who helped create the idea of Voltron, was also given the option to be the next paladin. I understand if you don't want Ernesto to be a paladin," I said. Lance's mother looked like she was about to cry again and Lance's father came up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders, leaning down and whispering something in her ear. She gave a shaky sigh and nodded before once again addressing me.

"It does not matter what I feel. The choice is Ernesto's, yes? We cannot choose for him," Lance's mother said, her voice breaking. Alejandro looked up at her with wide, teary eyes. "No! Cannot go!" he wailed, jumping up and clinging to her leg. Lance's mother sighed and picked him up, pulling him into her lap and rocking back and forth slightly. He hiccupped and sniffled, nuzzling against her and glaring at me.

"You no take Ernesto. Ernesto stay!" Alejandro screeched, making me wince. Ernesto and Maricela had long since reentered the room and Ernesto was staring down at his feet, picking slightly at his sleeve as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. I held up my hands in a surrendering gesture, making a goofy face. Alejandro blinked and then giggled softly.

"Like Lanza," he said quietly. I smiled at the comment and put my hands down. He wriggled out of his Aunt's (Lance's mother) arms, and sat down next to me. He looked at me with his head tilted slightly, studying me. Alejandro pointed to the cartridge.

"Keith, Hunk, Shiro?" he said, his tone questioning. M brow furrowed slightly in confusion and then I resisted the urge to face palm as I got what he meant. "I'm Keith. Lanc- Lanza told me a lot about you," I said slowly, hoping he understood. Alejandro gasped and fresh tears started to make trails down his cheeks and he leapt forward, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my chest in a hug that only a child his age could pass off.

"Th-Thank you," Alejandro said. "Thank you for saving Lanza." My mouth fell open slightly and I looked down at the small boy in my lap, who was thanking me for something I didn't even realize I'd done. He started to speak again, but his voice was so quite I had to lean down to listen.

"He was always sad. Ernesto said he hurt from words and knives. L-Lanza said you s-saved him." Alejandro started to cry harder and I embraced him tightly, tearing up myself. Lance had always seemed so happy... Had he really used to suffer? Was I really the reason that he was able to be happy again...? I looked up at Ernesto, who was biting his lip and trying not to start crying as well. Seeing my gaze and seeming to read my mind, he nodded slightly to confirm my thoughts. I turned my head away, looking down into Alejandro's brown hair and letting my tears fall. Ernesto hesitated before reaching out a hand and ruffling my hair slightly.

"Do not cry. Lanza wouldn't want that, would he?" I shook my head and Ernesto's expression softened. "I… have taken interest in Lanza's job. I know it's risky, but I want to be able to do what he was doing before he died…" Ernesto's voice was quiet, shy even as he looked at his mother and father. His mother hesitated for a moment before sighing. They said a few words in Spanish and embraced, while the rest of their family watched on. I knew that they were saying goodbye.


	32. Chapter 31

Keith's POV:

I waited on the small porch outside as Ernesto packed a few of his essentials and said goodbye to his family. When he joined me outside, he gaped at Red, his eyes wide. I smiled and gestured for him to follow, walking up to Red as she bent down and opened up her mouth for us to get in. Ernesto jumped slightly in surprise, but after an encouraging smile from me he followed right away.

"Get ready for launch, Red!" I called to my lion once I'd settled into the pilot chair and Ernesto stood behind me, clinging to the back of it for dear life. Red roared in response and bounded towards the end of the street, trying to gain enough speed so she could lift off. Ernesto gave a shriek as we lifted into the air, clinging to me and the chair. I chuckled a bit. It was like when Lance first piloted the Blue lion... just in reverse, and it was with his brother.

 _God Lance, I miss you so much,_ I thought, biting my lip. Ernesto's grip on me had loosened as we left Earth's atmosphere and entered space. Red had slowed down, allowing me to be comfortable without a seat belt and for Ernesto to be able to walk around. He gazed out, his mouth open slightly in awe.

"I never thought I'd see space... Lanza talked about it so much in his letters from the Garrison," Ernesto murmured, once again picking at his sleeve. Was that a nervous tick or something...? I blinked and shook my head, getting me out of my thoughts.

"And now, I'm going to be a pilot and help save the world!" Ernesto said, laughing slightly. "Well, you might not be. Allura has the option too," I reminded him, and his shoulders slumped. "Right, right. I have to meet her though, and she if she is fit to fill my brother's shoes. Do you think that she would mind?" Ernesto asked, turning to me. I shrugged, not really knowing how to answer. He huffed in annoyance.

"You are impossible to talk to," he muttered. I chuckled. "Speak for yourself. You spoke in broken English the first few minutes I knew you," I said, and Ernesto laughed, giving me a wink that reminded me so much of Lance's I almost thought he _was_ Lance...

"Well, I'm a good actor at least. That ought to count for something out here," he replied, turning back to gaze out at space. "It might impress Allura... And I know it will remind all of the others of Lance. You seem so much like him." I tried to keep my composure, and my voice only shook slightly. Ernesto turned to me with a slight frown, an eyebrow raised.

"Oh? Well, he did take after me. I suppose time will only tell though. Besides, your other friends haven't even met me yet. They may not even like me." After that, I didn't know what to say. The rest of the flight to the Castle was dead silent.


	33. Chapter 32

Keith's POV:

Red touched down and Ernesto once again clung to me, trying not to fall over. I sighed and rolled my eyes, gently pushing him off so I could get up. He smiled at me sheepishly and backed away, grabbing his bag where it had fallen on the floor.

"Alright, I'll show you to your room. It's getting late, so the others should be asleep by now. Do you want to sleep in Lance's old room?" Ernesto turned to me, looking a bit overwhelmed, and nodded. "I really don't know what to expect... There aren't going to be aliens or anything that will jump out at me will there?" he asked nervously. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Not unless you count Allura and Coran. Sometimes they can give us all quite the rude awakening in the mornings." Ernesto blinked and I laughed. "I'm kidding, Ernesto. Now come on!" I grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of Red, running towards Lance's bedroom. He stumbled slightly but tried to keep up as best as he could.

"When can I see Lance?" he asked as we ran. I froze and he crashed into me, yelping in surprise before crumpling to the ground. He muttered unintelligibly, rubbing the back of his head. I stared down at the ground, my fists clenched. So that's why he wanted to come. He probably didn't even want to be a paladin. I grabbed his wrist and yanked him back to his feet.

"In the morning, you can see Lance. I think that's when we were planning to have a sort of funeral for him anyways." Ernesto nodded curtly, and followed me the rest of the way to Lance's room. When we entered, I could see that he was choking up a bit. Ernesto walked in, looking around. The room was just as I had left it; a mess.

"Geeh. Looks like he was still as disorganized as when he left home," Ernesto said quietly, setting his bag on the bed and sitting by it. His hands were shaking slightly and he looked down at the floor, his hair hanging in front of his eyes. His expression was crestfallen, matching the way his shoulders slumped and the rest of his body shook. My brows knitted in concern and I sat beside him. I opened my mouth to reply when he turned to glare at me, his eyes burning with anger and tears.

"Do not pity me, Keith. Leave, please. Let me mourn my brother alone," he murmured, pursing his lips together. I hesitated, before nodding slightly and getting to my feet. I glanced back in before I left to see that he had curled up on the bed and was crying softly, his eyes glistening with tears.

Ernesto's POV:

I hated appearing weak, but I had somehow felt more comfortable around Keith. I wouldn't have minded crying in front of him, but I felt better when he left. I had eventually cried myself to sleep, clutching the pillow Lance had slept on for the last three years in this unfamiliar place. I woke up to a sharp, salty smell. An older man sat at the end of the bed, holding a small bowl of green goo.

"Hello, you must be Ernesto!" the man said, handing me the goo and a spoon. I wrinkled my nose and studied the substance, nodding in response to his statement. "I'm Coran. I was a friend of your brother," he said. My eyes widened and I looked up at him. This was Coran?! Lance had described him as a powerful, strong man in his message! This man looked... Well, this man looked weak. Coran cleared his throat awkwardly and got to his feet.

"A-Anyways... Keith told me you wanted to see your brother. After you eat something, I'll show you where the control room is. That's where we're keeping him for now," Coran said, his voice strained. I nodded and he left, standing against the wall outside the room. I eyed goo in my bowl and hesitated before digging my spoon into it and bringing it to my mouth. I tried not to gag at the horrid texture, since it tasted okay overall. It was a bit salty, and reminded me a bit of how eggs tasted. After a few more bites, I couldn't stomach the texture of it anymore and left it on the bedside table, getting up and leaving.

"There you are! Come along now," Coran said when I entered the hallway, beckoning for me to follow him. I eyed him skeptically. The only way I knew these people was how Lanza had described them. How did I know I could trust them? They had been Lanza's friends, but that wasn't much to go by. He'd befriended all sorts of people. I sighed and decided to follow this Coran fellow anyways, If he really brought me to Lanza's body, then I would trust him.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Coran said suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts. I jumped a bit and blinked, before quickly shaking my head and plastering a smile on my face. "No, not really, I know pretty much everything. Lanza explained it all in his message to us. Who you all are, what you do, how you met, what Voltron is... and it must've been recent, because he described being captured by the Galra. Keith mentioned that he ended up dying sh-shortly after that happened," I said, and my voice broke slightly. Coran flinched and nodded.

"Aha... I see... I never knew that Lance was so descriptive," Coran said, looking ahead and refusing to meet my eyes. I chewed my bottom lip and walked behind him in silence. This Coran was certainly hard to piece together. Hadn't Lanza said he was a funny man? He seemed a bit uptight to me.

"This is the control room!" Coran said, a hint of a smile curving his lips. I gaped at the huge room, walking in circles and gazing at everything. To think, Lanza had lived here... I wonder how he went anywhere without getting lost! I spotted a table in the middle of the room and my breathing hitched. Someone laid on it, completely motionless. I glanced at Coran and he nodded slightly, gesturing for me to go forward. My legs were shaking as I stepped forward, approaching the table with caution.

"L-Lanza," I gasped, stumbling and catching myself on the table as my eyes fell on my lifeless little brother. Lanza had a gaping hole in the middle of his stomach, which was encrusted with blood. The laugh lines that had adorned his face when he was small were invisible. He was so pale, his face almost looked white. I collapsed against the table, my legs buckling under me.

"No! Lanza, no!" I sobbed, burying my face in his chest and shaking. I clung to his lifeless body, crying hysterically. Lanza was really, truly dead. I had believed Keith... but seeing him... it was so much worse. As I gazed at the wound that pierced through his entire body, I could hardly believe that m carefree, happy, jokester of a brother had done this to himself. I only sobbed harder, completely sinking to my knees. I clutched Lanza's ice cold hand in mine, holding it to my tear stained face. Why? **_Why?!_** I tried to calm down, cursing myself for breaking down. I wiped my eyes, gently placing Lanza's hand back on top of his chest with the other. Tears still rolled down my cheeks, no matter how hard I tried to stop them.

"It's alright to cry, all of us were the same way," Coran said, coming up behind me an putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked away from him, my brow furrowing. These strangers... they acted like by brother was a part of their family. But, they had hardly even known him! And they let him kill himself! I gritted my teeth in anger and threw his hand off of me, successfully making him stumble backward.

"Shut up! You only pretend to care! None of you knew him! If you had, you would have known how he felt! YOU WOULD HAVE STOPPED HIM FROM DYING!" I screamed, my eyes wide. Coran's mouth fell open and he stepped back, shocked. I wasn't going to let him go away that easily though and grabbed him by the front of the shirt and dragging him towards me.

"You didn't know him," I growled. "You didn't know him at all! He was too much like me. He hid his pain behind a laugh and a smile! H-He was...He was always hurting so much. He hated himself, and he had so much doubt. None of you knew him enough to stop that!" Coran's expression hardened and he grabbed my wrists, startling me by yanking me off of him and shoving me against a wall.

"I knew all of that. Keith and Hunk knew all of that. We all knew that! Why do you think we were so close to him?! We were just too cautious. We didn't want to do something wrong and drive him over the edge. So we laughed at his jokes, we accepted him; we complimented him in any way we could. So don't say we didn't know him!" Coran snarled. He let go of me and I stared at him in shock, my mouth hanging open slightly.

"I suggest you talk to Keith if you really still doubt. He and Lance were closer than any of us were." Coran turned sharply and walked off.


	34. Chapter 33

Keith's POV:

"Hunk, I burned it again!" I shrieked, quickly pulling the pot overflowing with boiling water and pasta off of the stove and chucking it into the sink. Hunk groaned and face palmed, giving me a deadpanned expression through his fingers. I chuckled nervously and started scraping the burnt noodles from the bottom of the pot with a metal spoon. Hunk rolled his eyes and snickered before taking the pot from me, filling it with water, and leaving it to soak.

"You need to be more careful. Keith! You can't just let the pasta sit by itself!" Hunk said with a laugh. I was about to retort when I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

"Keith! Keith, I need to talk to you!" Ernesto called, walking right past the kitchen. Hunk gaped at his retreating form. "Is that... Lance's brother?!" he asked. I face palmed and nodded before quickly running out of the kitchen, chasing after him.

"Ernesto! Ernesto, I'm right here!" I called, panting as I ran after him. Ernesto stopped abruptly and I crashed into him, once again crashing to the floor. I laid there for a few moments, fuming before I got back to my feet, grumbling.

"Will you stop doing that?! I keep..." My voice trailed off as my eyes rested on his expression. Ernesto's jaw was clenched tight along with his fists. His eyes were closed, as if he were fighting back tears. He drew his lower lip between his lip and took a deep breath through his nose, before turning to look at me.

"I need to ask you some questions." Ernesto's fists clenched tighter. "Lance has wanted to die for a long time, but my family was able to prevent it because we knew him well enough, meaning all of you didn't know him at all. I'll keep this opinion unless you can answer these few questions about him. Understood?" Ernesto said his voice firm. I nodded, not really sure what I was getting into, and my stomach dropped when he smirked.

Ernesto's POV:

Oh, this was going to be good. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it, since I would probably end up ruining Keith's image of Lanza, but it had to be done. They didn't know him, and I would prove that to them! Why was I even doing this, though? It wouldn't bring any joy or satisfaction, but I still insisted in my mind that I needed to prove just how hidden Lanza had been to them all. I grabbed Keith by the arm, planning on dragging him back to Lanza's room. I heard him growl and he ripped his arm out of my grip. I turned to see him glaring at me, his teeth gritted.

"If you want to ask me what I know about Lance, then go ahead and ask! We don't have to be in private!" I blinked in surprise and then laughed, doubling over and clutching my stomach. Wow, was this guy an idiot! I could see why Lanza liked him so much! He gaped at me for a moment before growling in frustration and yanking me back upright.

"Ask the stupid questions already!" he snapped, and I nodded, still chuckling a little. Pushing all funniness aside, I folded my arms across my chest and gave him a hard gaze.

"Fine, I will. Question One: What embarrassed Lanza the most?" I asked, and I smirked. There was no way Keith would get this one. To my surprise, Keith laughed a little before answering. "He was always embarrassed by his laugh. He thought it was too girly." Shoot, he got it right. I chewed on my lip in thought. Guess I would have to think of harder questions...

"Question Two: Who did he look up to the most and why?" Keith thought for a moment, a gentle smile on his face the whole time. "There were two people, actually, you and Shiro. You because you taught him everything he knew. He always used the jokes you told him as a kid to try and make us laugh, and he missed you the most besides your mom. Also, he thought you were the most amazing older brother ever. He looked up to Shiro a lot because he is an amazing pilot, and he reminded him a lot of your father." My eyes narrowed. He was right again! In my part anyways, although I hadn't known Lanza looked up to me for being a good brother... I growled and shook my head. I couldn't let myself get distracted by this kid!

"Right again! Question 3: What was Lanza's biggest fear?" Keith's face visibly paled and I finally, _finally_ thought I had him, and then I noticed that his lip had begun to quiver. He clenched his fists and looked down at the ground, his bangs hanging in front of his eyes.

"Lance's worst fear was that he would be an outcast. He was always afraid that we would see him as useless or an unnecessary part of the team. I remember him telling us that he always tried to be exactly like you because people liked you so much. He hated the thought of people not liking him and shutting him out to the point of him being afraid of it." I swallowed hard and nodded slightly. Right again...

"Question Four: How did he like to be comforted when he was sad?" I asked, my voice quivering. There was no way he would get this right. Lance never let anyone but me and mother know he was upset. Keith looked up at me, his eyes welling up, and smiled.

"He never let any of us know when he was sad, so he usually ended up fighting through things alone. But when someone did find out, he... h-he loved being held. Lance actually taught Coran and I a song we could sing to him that you and his mother would sing when he was crying. It always worked!" Keith said, and I almost started crying myself. Lanza had always loved hugs from mama and I when he was sad, and the song... I squeezed my eyes shut and took a shaky breath.

"Question Five: What was the only thing that could make him cry? And I mean really cry; body racking sobs, tears streaming, the whole package, what was it?" Keith gritted his teeth and I could see him shaking. He knew the answer... He must've, or he wouldn't be upset.

"Seeing people he cared about getting hurt and not being able to do anything; that was probably the only thing that could really make him cry like that. Lance was always the first person comfort someone, or even to sacrifice himself for the safety of others. Back at the Garrison, when I still went there, Lance saw Hunk getting bullied. It went around the entire building. He ended up beating the kid to a pulp and had an emotional breakdown right in front of everyone. I always thought he was just too emotionally unstable until I actually got to know him more." I teared up. Ah yes, the famous Garrison fight Lanza had called home about. I had forgotten about it. Keith was right again.

"Question Six: H-How did-" My voice cut off and I clenched my fists, tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. I didn't want to ask this question! But I had to. I had to know how well Keith knew my brother. "H-How did Lanza want to die, if not heroically?" Keith let out a choked sob, and I knew I hit a nerve. He covered his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking as he replied.

"He wanted to be the one to kill himself. He was so scared that he would die with everyone he cared about hating him to the point that he wanted to commit suicide before that happened! And it wasn't just that reason. He hated almost everything about himself and wanted nothing more than to die. He hated his laugh, his stupid jokes, his personality, how he looked, everything! Lance hated everything about himself! I-I caught him... trying to chase that pain away, and trying to die... several times. We all have. And now, h-he actually... he actually went through with it!" Keith started to sob, burying his head in his hands.

"We were so careless. We thought he was better! After Blue came back, we- _No, I thought_ she had fixed him. I thought he was okay, and that he didn't hear voices anymore, and that his amnesia wouldn't come back." My eyes widened. Voices? Amnesia?! What was Keith talking about?! Keith suddenly let out a cry of despair, tangling his fingers into his hair so I could fully see the agonized expression on his face.

"I could've stopped him! I knew how he felt! I knew he wasn't better! I just didn't want to accept it! And now, Lance is gone!" He looked up at me, his eyes and face shining with tears. "Ernesto, I'm sorry. It's my fault your brother is dead. I-I'm so sorry..." Keith whimpered, placing his head in his hands once again. I shook, staring at the younger teen before ne with wide eyes. How could he have possibly known all of that? Only I knew those things about Lanza! No one else had caught with his razors, or pills, or anything else, except for me! Only I knew what pain he was going through! I could tell that I was crying and I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't find the strength to.

"You knew him," I managed to rasp out, and Keith looked up at me, a confused glance making its way through his tears. "W-What?" he asked softly, and I shook my head in frustration, more tears falling like rain.

"You knew my brother! That was the whole point of these questions! You knew him, okay?!" I shouted, glaring at Keith. I took a step back, shocked. He reached a hand out to touch my arm and I moved it away, gritting my teeth.

"D-Don't touch me... Just leave me alone," I whispered. And with that, I ran off, not daring to look behind me.


	35. Chapter 34

Keith's POV:

I watched Ernesto run off, closing my fist and letting it fall to my side. I was still shaking and crying a little, but the initial grief was gone. I really couldn't figure him out. One second he seemed like an arrogant prick, the total opposite of Lance, and the next moment I would almost find myself feeling sorry for him. I groaned a bit to myself and turned back around, planning on heading to my bedroom.

"KEITH! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" a voice shrieked, and I nearly jumped out of m skin. The voice was definitely Hunk's and it sounded both excited and confused. I blinked and turned rapidly, trying to figure out where it was coming from. I heard someone else yell my name, this time Shiro, and I could tell that it came from the control room, which was in the direction were Ernesto had gone! My eyes widened and I immediately sped off, cursing Lance's older brother under my breath. I entered the control room, doubled over and panting, looking up at them all. Ernesto stood in the middle of Coran, Shiro, Pidge, and Allura, looking a bit defensive. Hunk was standing off to the side and approached me immediately.

"You'll never believe what just happened!" Hunk said excitedly, dragging me over to where Ernesto stood. At a second glance, I saw that he stood by Lance's still body. I grimaced but let myself be dragged. Ernesto glared down at the ground with clenched fists as I approached, but Hunk didn't seem to notice.

"Show him, Ernesto!" Hunk told the young man excitedly, jumping up and down like a four year old on Christmas Day. Ernesto rolled his eyes, hesitating slightly before placing his hand on Lance's chest and closing his eyes. The area where his hand was began to glow, and the wound in Lance's chest began to heal. The color returned to his face and I could've sworn his hand moved slightly. My eyes widened and I was about to cry out when Ernesto dropped his hand back to his side, his forehead beaded with sweat, and panting slightly. My shoulders slumped a little.

"Isn't it amazing?! Ernesto came in here not too long ago and when he touched Lance that happened! Coran was just about to tell us a bit about it when you came in," Pidge said excitedly, her eyes lighting up from behind her round glasses. I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Coran, socked to see that he wore the same happy, hopeful expression everyone else did. I chewed on my lip and nodded to him to continue what he'd been saying.

"What happened is very rare, and is not often seen except when there is an exceptionally strong bond between two paladins of the same lion-" Pidge raised a hand, cutting Coran off, and he sighed before nodding to her. "Uh... How exactly is there more than one paladin of the same lion?" she asked, looking a bit confused. Coran grinned.

"Being called as a paladin is a lifelong position, even when a new paladin is chosen! So, Lance is still a Blue paladin. If he were alive, even though Ernesto has obviously unknowingly formed a natural bond with Blue, Lance would still be the Blue paladin. Now, with the whole healing thing, it is extremely rare for two paladins of a lion to have a strong enough bond to raise one or the other from the dead, but it has happened on numerous occasions in the recorded history of the Alteans. In fact, when Lance said that King Alfor was the only Blue paladin, he was wrong. I was a paladin of the Blue lion after he was. And... Well... I got into an accident, and died. The only thing that brought me back was Alfor."

"I'm thinking that the bond between Lance and Ernesto was similar to the bond between the king and I, but since Ernesto isn't officially a Blue paladin, he can't raise Lance from the dead. Every time he tries, all of his energy is drained away. In order for Lance to be brought back, Ernesto needs to truly bond with Blue." We all turned to gape at Coran, whose face had fallen since he had mentioned King Alfor. Had Coran really... died? And was it truly possible for Lance to come alive again?! Coran looked up at Allura.

"Princess... Lance has also given you the option of being the paladin. Ernesto is eager to take up the position, and if he does Lance may be able to be saved! But... what do you want?" Coran asked, and we all turned to her. My brows came together as I stared at Allura, who appeared to be struggling. How could this possibly be so hard for her? Of course she would let Ernesto take up the position as paladin! We could have Lance back if she allowed him to!

"I-I...I can't... I can't do that. I'm so sorry," Allura whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. A small gasp sounded from my mouth, but everyone else nodded in solemn understanding. I shook my head slowly, backing out of the room.

"Keith... please don't..." Allura started, but I never let her finished. I bolted. I seemed to be running a lot lately... metaphorically and literally. And here I was again, my feet smacking against tiled floors and my heart pounding. I couldn't believe what I'd heard, what I'd seen. There was a chance, right in front of us, that could get Lance back, and Allura was just going to throw it away! I reached my room and slammed the door shut behind me, leaning against it heavily and sliding to the ground.

"Why...why is she such a..." My voice trailed off and I gritted my teeth, leaning my head back against the door and gripping my hair tightly. Why was Allura being so selfish?! Why couldn't she see how much everyone needed Lance?! And that's when it dawned on me... The others didn't need Lance. Yeah, they were all his friends and they cared about him, loved him even, but they would all move on. _I needed Lance,_ just me, not anyone else. I needed him so much it hurt, even though it wasn't in a romantic way.

I hugged my knees to my chest, letting myself cry and shake, but the tears wouldn't come. I'd cried every last tear I could spare for my friend. A friend that had changed my life for the better, a friend that made me feel like myself and not be afraid to express myself... a friend that was gone. Just one little mistake I'd made, letting him run away from me, cost Lance his life. It really was my fault. Lance's death was _my fault._ I just sat there, dry sobs wracking my body as I wished I'd been a better friend.


	36. Chapter 35

Ernesto's POV:

As Keith fled the room, I turned to the Allura girl with rage filled eyes, my fists clenched tightly at my sides. How dare she give up my brother! After everything they'd been through together, she was just giving him up! I would never get to see Lance alive again, because of _her!_

"Y-You... I can't believe you!" I roared, lunging forward and grabbing the girl by the arms. Allura yelped and looked up at me fearfully, her eyes wide. I was trembling with anger, my teeth bared as I resisted the urge to show her just how much I hated her at that moment.

"I thought you were his friend! Why are you giving up this chance to save him? What the hell is wrong with you?!" Coran let out a cry of rage and came forward to tear me off of Allura, but she held up a hand to stop him as best as she could since I pretty much had her arms pinned. She glared up at me and I blinked slightly in surprise.

"Nothing is wrong with me! I just don't want to get everyone's hopes up and then have it not work! Do you want to become a paladin and be able to heal Lance, and then have it not work, how would you feel if that happened; how would you feel if you couldn't heal your brother?!" Allura shouted and I let go of her, taken aback. She had a point... Of course she had a point! Stupid girls and their minds... I closed my eyes and tried not to get angry again, but I was starting to have a really hard time with it.

"We have to at least try! Please, Allura, let me help my brother," I said, casting my eyes down. I was begging, and it probably looked pathetic, but I didn't know what else to do! "Please... Let me do this. If I don't bring Lance back, you can always take over as the paladin still, or I could do the job," I added. Allura looked at me skeptically, her hand twitching slightly in either annoyance or hesitation.

"You have a point, I suppose. There's no harm in trying. But, you can be the only one in the room, and no one can know when you do it! And who knows, you might not even be able to do it. Blue has to accept you as her paladin first," Allura said, looking a little too smug. I gritted my teeth, opening my mouth to retort. Shiro quickly put a hand on my shoulder, shaking his head quickly. I sighed and shrugged his hand off, turning back to the so called "Princess".

"Fine! I'll go talk to the lion right now! Someone want to show me where it is? I have a general idea and I know where the other lions are, but I probably need someone." Allura's eye twitched and even Shiro seemed a bit offended. "Blue is a she, she's not an it, okay? The lions are machines, but they have emotions. They might as well be really alive. Got it?" I nodded quickly, seeing the slight anger blazing in Shiro's eyes as he spoke. His glare quickly turned into a smile and he nodded.

"Great! Pidge, why don't you take him down? I need to have a bit of a talk with Allura," Coran said with a strained smile. Pidge, the small girl with brown hair and glasses that looked a little bit too much like a boy, nodded and took my arm, dragging me out of the room. I tried to protest that I could go just fine on my own even though I honestly had no idea where the hangers were, but the expressionless look on Pidge's face kept me silent.

"This isn't going to work," Pidge said quietly, not even looking at me as she let go of my arm. "How do you know?" I asked. I'd been thinking the same thing, but I hadn't wanted to say anything. With tears in her eyes Pidge replied, "Lance won't want to come back."


	37. Chapter 36

Ernesto's POV:  
I looked at Pidge in shock, trying to register what she'd said. Lanza... wouldn't want to come back? Is that really what she thought? Of course Lanza would come back! I chuckled nervously and kept walking, followed by Pidge, and shook my head.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Pidge! Of course Lanza is going to come back! He cares about all of us, doesn't he? He has a lot to come back to!" I said, trying to keep the shaking out of my voice. Pidge shook her head.

"You've got to be kidding me... and to think, you said you knew Lance better than all of us! Lance always said that if he died, and there was a chance he would come back, he wouldn't take it!" My blood ran cold. I shook my head slowly, not wanting to believe her. Why would Lanza say that...?  
"It was always really weird... but Lance said it was because of God." Pidge smiled a little and raised an eyebrow at me. "He said your parents raised the two of you and your sister as Roman Catholic, so he was pretty faithful. He said that if he died, he didn't want us to try and bring him back because he believed that whenever he died, it would be God's will. It was... pretty incredible of him, actually," Pidge said, shaking her head a bit. I blinked, trying not to laugh. Lanza believed in those fairy tales? Sheesh, I always thought he was a bit more logical than that.

"Alright, we're here. This is Blue's hanger. I'll leave you alone with her," Pidge said, and I could've sworn she smirked as she walked off to go join the others. I gulped as I saw the towering, blue, robotic lion standing just feet from me. I was supposed to form a bond with this thing! And then fly it! I'd never even flown a regular ship before. Shaking slightly, I walked up the robot and placed one of my hands on its paws.

"H-Hello? Uh... My name is Ernesto! I'm Lanza- Lance's older brother. I've come to take his place as your paladin!" I shouted, craning my neck so I looked up at its magnificent head. A low growl sounded and I scurried backwards, falling onto my back and staring at the lion in fear.

 ** _No one can replace him!_** A voice in my head screamed, and I covered my ears, grimacing. "I-If you let me be your paladin, I-" **_NO! NO ONE ELSE! LANCE WAS THE ONLY ONE TRULY WORTHY TO BE A PALADIN!_** The lion roared, its voice filled with grief. My hands fell away from my ears and I got to my feet, glaring at the lion.

"You know what?! I know that Lance was amazing! From what everyone here has told me, he was the best paladin out of all of them, and I couldn't be prouder of him! But he's dead, and they've found out a way he can come back! But you need to bond with me, and let me be your paladin. I promise I can bring him back!" By now I was desperate. I'd been told by two bratty teenagers and now a metal lion that I shouldn't be the paladin, basically saying I couldn't have my brother back. I was sick and tired of everyone getting in the way of Lanza's recovery! If they really cared about him as much as they claimed to, he would be alive again already!

The lion went dead silent and the glow of her eyes began to fade. She shifted her position so that she was curled up like a house cat, one of her yellow eyes directly in front of me. Unlike most glass, I couldn't see my reflection in it. Instead, I saw a different person. With a trembling hand, I touched Lanza's image that seemed to be engraved in the glass. My eyes fell and my hand formed into a fist against the glass.

 ** _Lance was truly the kindest of my paladins. Coran and Alfor were wonderful as well, but there was just something special about him. He was in so much pain, and yet he was able to laugh and smile. He lifted others up while he was at such a low point in his mind that he wanted nothing more than to die. When a paladin and their lion form a bond, it's like nothing else. I could feel his pain and anguish, and I could tell just how much he was hurting._**  
 ****

 ** _He wanted to be loved, and I tried to provide it but it wasn't enough. Lance tried to impress the others, make them laugh, and he tried so hard to be there for all of them so they would never end up like him. And there was never a moment where he stopped thinking about you nd the rest of his family. He loved you all so very much, and staying away from you almost killed him. And then, he was captured by the Galra. I believe the others failed to brief you on that little bit of information?_** Blue said, her voice soft. I was shaking, and tears were welling up in my eyes. I shook my head slightly, and Blue heaved a great sigh.

 ** _Lance was kidnapped by the Galra about a month ago. Somehow, the witch Haggar had hacked into my systems with her magic and possessed me, tricking Lance into coming to the main Galran ship in the meantime. What they did to him then... It was so horrible. He was entrusted to the care of the Galran's most effective interrogator, Gorerage. He beat him, whipped him, electrocuted him, made him hallucinate, and used him for his sexual pleasures._** I fell to my knees, my eyes wide as I clamped my hands over my mouth to keep myself from screaming.

 ** _When Lance was rescued, he thought that the others were part of the hallucinations he was receiving in the Galran prisons, along with the Castle when they eventually returned here. He kept hearing voices in his head even after he finally became convinced that he was back, telling him to kill them all! And eventually, they told him to kill himself._**

 ** _The others did everything they could to find a cure, but they were almost too late. In the last possible few hours, they used the cure on Lance. He was in a coma for weeks before the cure and it took him about a day to actually have the cure work, and everyone was so worried, since the cure could have possibly killed him. It didn't though, but when he woke up Lance had no memory of anything except for Keith, Hunk, and Pidge. He thought his entire family was dead._** I was sobbing uncontrollably, clutching my chest.

 ** _He was so convinced that all of you were dead, he wouldn't Keith talk him out of it. Keith brought him to the holodeck in response, showing him memories of each of you individually with him. He wasn't completely convinced that you were all really alive, but he felt a slight bit of relief and allowed himself to open up a bit more to what Keith told him. I was still back on the Galran ship and in horrible disrepair due to what the Galrans were doing to me. Hunk and Pidge created a headset that allowed Lance to contact me. His mind was partially mended and I found the strength to get out._**

 ** _When I got back, I helped Lance to fully heal his mind. It seemed as though he was completely cured, and that nothing was wrong with him. He was so happy to be back with everyone, and he remembered everything. Besides Keith, Coran was the most relieved. He sees Lance as a son, and loved him like he was his own child._** I sniffed, wiping my eyes and trying to calm down. This didn't make sense. If Lance had been fine... then why did he try to commit suicide? Blue mewled softly, her voice sad as she continued.

 ** _Lance had a nightmare that night, one that revealed the most horrible part of his stay at the Galran ship. It all went downhill from there. He only lasted a day. I heard his thoughts as he got ready, and I wanted to help him, but somehow I was blocked from him. The voices returned to him, and he once again lost his memory. He was devastated without even knowing why, screaming where no one could hear him. His memories returned, and he didn't want to risk losing those memories ever again. So, he took his Bayard and ended his life._** My eyes went wide and my hands flew to my mouth like before, my body trembling. I heard Blue purr softly and she turned her head so that her eyes were facing away from me.

 ** _You cared for your brother very much, didn't you? You have his heart,_** Blue mused, and I looked up at her in confusion, the last of my tears lingering on my cheeks. "His... heart? What does that mean?" I asked. Blue purred again, warmly.

 ** _You share the same love for your family. Both of you are brave and kind, loyal too. The most important things to you are family and friends. If you became a paladin, I know that you would not really replace Lance in our hearts, but you would help fill the emptiness he left in them, just a little. The others will grow to care for you and love you, and you shall do the same. I don't know if you can bring Lance back but if you do, I will still accept you as my paladin._** I gaped at her in disbelief. She accepted me. She really accepted me!

In a loud voice Blue bellowed, **_Ernesto, brother of Lanza McClain and son of Esmeralda and Pedro McClain, I hereby declare you the paladin of the Blue lion, guardian of the waters, protector and defender of the universe! May you forever use your new powers for the good of others!_**


	38. Chapter 37

Ernesto's POV:

I stumbled out of Blue's hanger in a daze, my eyes glazed over. I felt all weird and tingly, as if I'd been shocked by a jelly fish. When Blue had finished her little speech I'd been blasted backwards right into the wall and she'd fallen dormant. I faintly heard people calling my name and the sound of running, but I was so out of it I had no idea what was really going on around me. I leaned heavily against the wall, trying not to collapse as my knees weakened underneath me.

"Ernesto! Ernesto, are you alright?!" A loud voice suddenly shouted in my ear and I groaned, sliding to the ground and covering my ears. The owner of the voice started to shake me, and I heard them calling for assistance. I feebly tried to push them away as they shook me harder, shouting at me to get up. Why were they so loud? And why was everything so blurry looking? I moaned softly and looked up at the foggy person in front of me. Black hair... Maybe it was Shiro? No, the person was too small and thin looking... Oh, that would mean it was... Keith...

"Ernesto, come on, talk to me!" Keith asked, shaking me harder. "Come on! Come on, you c-can't..." Keith's voice broke and he stopped shaking me. I shifted and tried to sit up despite the pounding in my head and the protest of my limbs. My vision cleared and I saw Keith kneeling in front of me, his head bowed.

"Keith? I-I'm okay you know, just a little dizzy. Are you crying or something?" I said with a slight chuckle, shaking my head to clear it before raising an eyebrow at him. Keith's head snapped up and he quickly wiped his eyes, shaking his head.

"N-No! I was... thinking about what I could do to make you respond! Yeah..." he muttered, a dark blush creeping up on his face. I laughed and reached out my arm to ruffle his hair, something I would do to Lance when he got embarrassed. He blinked and I froze, my hand inches away from his head. Curling my fingers into a fist I quickly let my hand drop.

"Uh... I was able to bond with Blue," I said, quickly changing the subject. Keith's face immediately brightened and he grinned at me, giving me a thumb up. "That's great! Let's go tell the others, and then we can get Lance back as soon as possible!" Keith said happily, getting to his feet and extending a hand to me. I smiled and gladly took it, hopping up to my feet and chasing after him down to the control room, where he said everyone was located.

"Slowpoke!" he teased, sticking his tongue out at me as I fell behind. I rolled my eyes and smirked slightly, not speeding up but taking pleasure in the fact that I could probably beat him anytime I wanted to if I so desired. When we reached the control room, Coran was the only one there. He had pulled up a chair next to the table Lanza laid on, holding one of his hands gently and looking down at him. He was saying something, but it was too soft for me to hear it. Not wanting to disturb him but having urgent news, I cleared my throat to get his attention. Coran flinched and dropped Lanza's hand, quickly turning to face us with a smile plastered on his face.

"Keith, Ernesto, what brings you here?" he asked, clearly indicating that he wanted us to leave. I hesitated, but an encouraging nudge from Keith made me sigh and continue. "I've formed a bond with Blue, Coran. I can bring Lanza back." Coran's eyes widened and he gaped at me, speechless. He quickly scrambled to his feet and moved out of the way, pulling the chair along with him so that my way was clear. I took a shaky breath and approached Lanza's body. He still had that eerily peaceful look about him. I closed my eyes, placing my hands on his chest, and concentrated.


	39. Chapter 38

Lance's POV:

Being dead feels really, really weird. I'm stuck in this sort of limbo place with a bunch of other dead people. Limbo looks exactly like Earth, with grass and trees and everything else. The only thing that's different is you don't have to breath, sleep, or eat. You just walk around, getting acquainted with your fellow dead people. Super fun! In all seriousness though, as boring as this place was, I didn't want to go back.

"Newcomer!" Francis von Brock, the first dead guy I'd met, announced. A flash of light appeared and a young man stood in our midst, looking dazed. He was about six and a half feet tall with shaggy brown hair and tanned skin. He wore a blue sweatshirt and jeans. He looked oddly familiar...

"Is there a kid named Lance here?" the man suddenly said, and the people around me murmured and began to nudge me forward. My face paled in horror as Ernesto turned and saw me, his eyes widening. He rushed forward, tackling me into a tight hug and burying his face in my shoulder. I hung limp in his arms, trembling. If we could cry in Limbo, I would've been sobbing.

"You're... You're dead?" I asked weakly, my legs quaking and nearly giving out beneath me. Ernesto shook his head and looked up at me with a slight smile, revealing the tears on his cheeks. I closed my eyes and breathed a shaky sigh of relief.

"I came here to bring you back. You can come back with me!" Ernesto said excitedly, drawing the stares of all who were around us. My eyes widened and I quickly shook my head to clear my thoughts. I glanced around, growing nervous as some of the shadier people started creeping towards us, their arms stretched out towards him. I growled as one of the shades, an older man with brown, graying hair and a short stature, pulled at his shirt roughly, jerking him backwards.

"No one touches him!" I snarled, grabbing him from the man and holding his arm protectively. I tugged on his arm gently, gesturing for him to follow me. Keeping his eyes trained on the other shades, he nodded and quickly followed behind me. I led him to a quite area completely surrounded by trees. I sat on a boulder and patted the spot next to me. Ernesto hesitated before quickly sitting next to me and putting his arms around me again.

"I missed you so much, Lanza... When we found out you were dead, I-" Ernesto's voice was cut off as he choked back a sob and pulled me closer, burying his face in my hair. I hesitated before hugging him back, resting my head on his shoulder. It felt so odd being with him, after years of not even seeing his face. Not to mention he was somehow in Limbo without actually being dead. I pulled away after his sobs quieted and rested my hands on his shoulders.

"Ernesto, I... I want to come back with you, but it wouldn't be right. All of the other people here never got a second chance. Besides, I wanted to die. It was my choice. I don't want to go back," I murmured, averting my gaze. I felt Ernesto flinch under my grip and I grimaced.

"That doesn't make sense. I know why you wanted to die; Blue told me everything. But why don't you want to come back? Don't you miss me? How about mama and Maricela? Do you miss them? And your other friends back on the ship are so worried about you... The only reason they let me be the paladin was so I could bring you back. Do you really want to let them down?"

My fists clenched at I looked down. I honestly had no idea what I wanted. I'd wanted to die so much, because I was dealing with so much pain. I hadn't wanted to risk forgetting my friends and family again. But here I was, being tempted by my brother's words. Stay or go? Which should I choose? I looked up at Ernesto and smiled, a bit sadly.

"I... I can't go back with you, Ernesto. I'm sorry," I said quietly. Ernesto started to tear up but he nodded and smiled a little, ruffling my hair affectionately. I quirked an eyebrow, looking up at him in confusion.

"Pidge told me you would say no, but I didn't want to believe her. I-I guess she was right though!" Ernesto said, his voice quivering. He sounded like he was trying so hard to be happy that the falseness of his laugh and smile was so obvious. It reminded me of... of me! I swallowed hard and bit my lip, hesitating before placing my arms on his shoulders. His smile slipped and he gritted his teeth, the tears that had been gathering in his eyes beginning to spill.

"I'm sorry Ernesto, but I can't leave. I wanted... I wanted to die, and you have to accept that. I'm scared to go back. I don't want to forget everyone again, or feel any more pain. I want you all to be happy in the fact that I'm alright now, even though I'm dead." Ernesto shook his head, glaring at me.

"I never knew that you could be so selfish, Lanza," Ernesto said coldly, his fists clenching. I winced, but didn't correct him. Why would I when I knew he had a point? My shoulders slumped and I let my hands fall limply at my sides. Ernesto blinked slightly in surprise, and then he sighed. I ignored the forlorn look in his eyes and got to my feet.

"You should go. The others are probably waiting for you." Ernesto looked as if he were about to protest, his mouth open slightly and his eyes wide. I held up a hand to stop him from saying anything more, my expression hardening.

"Don't try to convince me to come with you. I can't face the others after dying the way I did. They may say that they miss me, but they'll hate me!" I muttered, looking away. I heard him sigh and I rolled my eyes, preparing for him to go into big brother mode and lecture me.

"Maybe so... But, I know that Keith will be especially thrilled." I blinked and whirled back around to face him. "What do you mean? Did he say that?" I asked quickly, and Ernesto shook his head. My shoulders slumped, and then he gave me a reassuring smile.

"He didn't say that specifically. But, he was the only one besides me who was upset when Allura refused to let me become that paladin so I could heal you and bring you back. Don't you get it, Lance? They all care about you, but Keith cares about you the most. I'd even go as far to say that he needs you. And the family back home...they hadn't seen you in years, and we all thought you'd died a long time ago. The first news we hear about you in all those years was that you had been alive, and you just died. Don't you want to go back to the family? To see them again?" I hesitated, and then I shook my head.

"No... They will all be ashamed of me," I said quietly, and Ernesto groaned in exasperation. "No they won't! Stop being such a coward and come back with me! Keith needs you! The family needs you! I need you! Please Lanza, you're making a mistake by staying here!"


	40. Chapter 39

Keith's POV:

"He's been like that for a long time," I said nervously, , looking at Ernesto's still, rigid form. I poked his cheek cautiously and he didn't even flinch. The wound in Lance's chest had healed a long time ago, but neither of them had woken up. To say I was worried about them was probably the biggest understatement of the century. It didn't help that Ernesto kept muttering under his breath and randomly bursting into tears.

"I know. It's certainly worrisome," Allura said quietly, and I glared at her slightly. Was she freaking bipolar or something? She caught my stare and raised an eyebrow at me, making me quickly look away with my face flushed with embarrassment. Hunk came and stood behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders and massaging them gently in an attempt to calm me. I snickered slightly, thinking about how much he acted like a woman sometimes before I saw Lance's eyes flutter slightly. I stared at his body in shock. He... He was alive! I almost scooped him up into a hug when he began muttering under his breath.

"No... I won't go back. I can't," he muttered, a pained expression on his face. I stiffened, a bit shocked. They were definitely talking then, wherever they were... but why didn't Lance want to come back? Lance moaned softly and twitched, his eyes clenching. Ernesto's lips were moving only slightly, and no sound was coming out. Lance went still again and my heart stopped. Ernesto's eyes flew open and he burst into tears, clutching Lance in his arms.

"Come on... Come on, you can do it! You're strong enough... You're so strong!" Ernesto sobbed, as if he were addressing Lance's lifeless corpse. I looked away, my eyes glistening. We had failed. Lance was gone, for good this time. I heard a loud gasp and several coughs, but I thought nothing of it.

"K-Keith..." a familiar voice gasped, and my eyes widened. I turned slowly and nearly lost it. Lance grinned widely at me from Ernesto's arms, extending a hand to me. Ernesto was smiling and nuzzling into his hair. My hand shaking slightly, I gripped Lance's tightly and fought back tears. Lance laughed and yanked me towards him, pulling me into the hug. My entire body quaked as I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder and sobbing softly. Ernesto let go of him so that he could sit up and hug me properly.

"It's okay... It's okay Keith, I'm here. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," he said softly, holding me close to his chest. I sobbed harder, clutching his shirt that was still covered with his dried blood in one hand and burying my face in his shoulder. He was alive. Lance was _alive._

"Don't... D-Don't ever l-leave me again," I shuddered out, and Lance started to tear up. He said nothing and just held me, letting me cry in his arms. I could practically feel my heart aching as I clung onto Lance. I couldn't shake the thought that this was all a dream, and that I would wake up any minute and Lance would be dead again. I shivered at the thought and clung to him tighter still.

"Hey..." Lance whispered, tilting my head up so I was looking into his eyes. "Don't cry. I'm... I'm so sorry about before... but I'm not leaving again, I swear. I'm staying right here where I am. Okay?" he said softly, his eyes welling. I smiled at him and nodded happily, giving him one last squeeze before pulling away. I kept a hand on his shoulder though, still not completely certain that this was real. Coran was practically beaming at the two of us, tears streaming down his face like rivers. Lance chuckled slightly and got off the bed, wobbling lightly as he went over to him.

"Did you miss me?" Lance asked, hugging him tightly. Coran grinned and hugged him back. "Of course I missed you. There wasn't a second that went by where I didn't." Lance sniffed and swallowed. "I... I'm so sorry..." he said quietly, and Coran smiled, ruffling his hair. Lance went around to all of the others, exchanging apologies and getting lots of hugs. No one cried though, or reacted in a way you'd expect after someone you were friends with came back from the dead. That is, until Lance left with Ernesto to go to his room.


	41. Chapter 40

Keith's POV:

Coran completely lost it. He literally said nothing, sat down on the floor, hugged his knees to his chest, and started rocking back and forth, eventually melting down into a sobbing mess and burying his head in his knees. Allura broke down sobbing, burying her head in her hands and shaking. Hunk and Pidge embraced as if their lives depended on it, neither of them saying a word. I had cried pretty much all I could earlier, so I just watched them all.

I smiled a bit, feeling a slight sensation of relief. It had seemed like none of them cared whether or not Lance was brought back. When Allura had first turned down Ernesto's offer to bring him back, they all seemed to be in solemn agreement. Now they were all reacting accordingly, much to my relief and slight satisfaction. Yeah, that might've made me an awful person, but I didn't care. After Coran calmed down a bit he got up and gave a shaky laugh.

"Well then, looks like everything is going to be pretty much back to normal! Wouldn't you agree?" Coran said, a slight smile on his face. Allura sniffled and moved her hands away from her face, revealing her puffy, red eyes.

"I suppose it will be. It won't be quite the same, considering what Lance did... but I'm sure that all of us can somehow make it work. We have Lance back, and that's what's important." I grinned and nodded at her, making her smile. "You're exactly right, Allura! Besides, even if things aren't exactly the same, it's okay. Also... do you think Lance will want to see his family?" I said. The others went silent; none of us had thought that far.

"He... He probably will. I mean, he'll obviously want them to know that he's alive. When should we let him go?" Hunk said quietly, glancing at Allura and Coran. They exchanged a look, as if they were having some sort of mental conversation, and turned back to Hunk.

"Now. There's no sense in wasting time, now is there? And I have the feeling that they might already be leaving."

Lance's POV:

"You think we should go _now?!_ B-But... But I just got back! What will the others think if I just up and leave? I can't go!" I whisper shouted to Ernesto. He rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow at me. Needless to say, I felt disturbed.

"Lanza, this is our family we're talking about. They need to know that you're alive!" Ernesto snapped, making me flinch. I glanced around uneasily, shifting on my feet. Did you have a point? I wanted to see them at some point... but I didn't want to leave the others, especially Keith, after I'd just gotten back. I groaned in frustration and flopped onto my bed, burying my head deep into my pillow.

"So, what are you going to do? Stay here, or go see the family? Emphasis on _family,"_ Ernesto muttered, a slight edge in his voice. I stiffened and looked up at him slowly, my eyebrows coming together in a tightly knit line. What the heck was I thinking?! Of course I'd see my family! I'd been pining after them for over three years! A grin spread over my face and I sprung off of the bed, startling Ernesto into stumbling backwards.

"You're right. I'm going! Besides, this'll be the perfect opportunity to give you flying lessons!" I said with a laugh, making Ernesto groan. I snickered and grabbed him by the wrist, quickly dragging him to Blue's hanger. I stopped short at the entrance, swallowing hard. Blue didn't know I was alive yet... How would she react? She wouldn't... hate me, would she? With those thoughts in my mind, I swallowed hard and cautiously entered the room. Blue stood erect, still in her dormant stage.

"Go on, wake her up. She really missed you," Ernesto encouraged, smiling gently at me. I bit my lip and approached Blue slowly, tapping her right paw gently. _Blue, guess who is back?_ I thought, smiling a bit. Blue growled and her eyes glowed. She shook herself and laid down so that she was at my level.

 ** _Lance...? Is that really you?_** She asked quietly, her tone hesitant. I smiled and nodded, patting her paw affectionately. _Yeah, it's me. Did you miss me?_ Blue let out a roar of joy and she stood back up, jumping around. I stumbled, laughing as she shook the room.

 ** _Thank heaven! Thank God! Thank all things good!_** She squealed happily, and I laughed again. Ernesto was standing in the doorway, clinging to it with a huge grin on his face. Blue quickly got back down to the floor and opened her mouth so that the two of us could go inside, her tail wagging rapidly if she were a dog. I snickered and ran inside, quickly taking my seat in the cockpit.

"Blue, take me home!"


	42. Chapter 41

No one's POV:

Lance stared up at the place he once called home in awe, his hands hanging limply at his sides. It looked so magnificent in his eyes, like a castle or great fortress. The walls seemed to be made of shining metal and the roof of copper shingles. It shone in his eyes in an almost heavenly glow. Ernesto gave him a reassuring smile and he hesitantly approached the house. Staring at the brown, worn door, he debated whether he should knock or just go right it. After all, it was his home...

"Go on, they aren't going to bite," Ernesto urged him, nodding and gesturing for him to go inside. Lance hesitated before opening the door slightly. He gasped as a rush of warm air and loud voices immediately greeted him. The air held a familiar sweet, yet spicy scent of his mother's cooking. The voices were cheerful, although they lacked the usual energy they possessed. Ernesto watched as several emotions flashed across Lance's face; confusion, fear, slight joy, and even relief.

"It's... It's so weird, being home," Lance whispered, stepping further into the house and following the voices. They led him to the large kitchen of the cozy, Cuban home. Lance swallowed and poked his head in, smiling a bit as he did so. The entirety of his family was gathered around a large wooden table laden with a combination of American and Cuban dishes. Lance inhaled deeply and smiled a content look on his face. Now... for the big reveal.

Stepping out into the kitchen Lance said with a grin, "I'm home! Anybody miss me?" The kitchen fell silent and everyone turned to stare at Lance, their eyes wide. Lance's smile faltered a bit as they studied him almost critically, making him shrink back. Were they mad at him? Was he wrong about them, and they hated him?! He tried not to panic, his body trembling slightly as he started to tear up. The Galra was right, his family hated him. They hadn't even missed him. He faintly heard his mama gasp as he stared down at the floor, the tears flowing slightly, and heard the scraping of a chair against the tile floor.

"Lanza... my little Lanza, don't cry," his mama said softly, pulling him into a tight embrace. She barely came to his shoulder, and he had to bend down as he hugged her back tightly. "You're alive," she breathed, embracing him so tightly he thought his ribs would crack. "You're really alive!"  
The kitchen exploded with life as all of the members of Lance's family got to their feet, surging forward to hug him, kiss him, or even just touch him. Lance's tears kept flowing, but this time they were tears of joy. The shouts of praises to God and exclamations of disbelief made him laugh as they were spoken in his first tongue. He was constantly in the arms of a different family member practically every second, with another hanging off either of his arms. Alejandro and Veronica were bubbling, crying, and adorable messes as they clung tightly to his legs.

Ernesto watched the heartwarming scene from the entry to the kitchen, a grin on his face that was so wide it looked like his face would split in half. He had never seen Lance look so happy. Heck, he'd never seen his family looked so happy! It was almost surreal, even though they were quite the emotional bunch. Lance beamed at him and reached an arm out, beckoning for him to join the chaos. Ernesto hesitated, but he gave in with a grin and tackled Lance in a hug, along with his Aunt Zoel and Uncle Natán.

"I can't believe it! You're alive!" Papa exclaimed, hugging both of his sons tightly as tears streamed down his face. Lance nuzzled into his chest, tears and sobs of his own shaking his frame. "I thought we'd never see you again!" Grandfather Manuel added in his raspy yet powerful voice, so overcome with emotion that he'd had to sit back down in a chair along with Grandma Linda. Lance looked around at his family, beaming.  
"Well, of course I'm alive! You didn't think it was going to be that easy to get rid of me, did you?" Lance said. Everyone else let out a chorus of laughs, and the hugging circle broke up. Lance and Ernesto stayed close to their papa, slinging one arm around him as he wrapped his strong tree trunks around their shoulders.

"We must celebrate the return of my youngest son!" he exclaimed with joy, causing another shouting match of whoops and cheers. Lance laughed and Ernesto nearly squealed for joy. The laugh, the smile, it was all there, and it was so genuine it hurt. But, it was a good kind of hurt. It had been too long since he had last seen that smile.

Lance was overwhelmed by all of the attention. He'd missed his family so much, cried over them every day and could only be consoled by Keith, and now he knew that they had missed him too. They'd missed him so much that his normally stoic grandfather and papa had been reduced to tears. Today was indeed a cause for celebration. It would be so hard to say goodbye was late, and Lance's family was happy to let him stay the night. His old room, which Ernesto had taken over since he left, was almost exactly how he left it besides the fact that there was a desk and another bed. Lance's mama came up and tucked him in, not hesitating to remember a good night kiss for her hijo. Lance fell asleep wrapped up in warm, woolen blankets, sleeping better than he had in what felt like ages.

The next morning went by too fast as Lance shared a breakfast with his family, probably the last one he would ever have in that house. His family gave him a large bag filled with treats and trinkets for himself and his friends to remember them by. As Lance looked over them all, his heart leapt into his throat.

"I love you all so much. I'm so glad that I came back, because otherwise I would have missed this. Thank you for being my family." His words brought tears to his eyes despite the happiness in his heart and the warm smile on his face. Ernesto stood by Blue, waiting patiently for him to finish. Lance's mama came up and embraced him, kissing him on both cheeks.

"Go and save the world, my brave little Lanza. Go make your mama proud!" she exclaimed happily with tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, and Lance grinned. He turned and waved one last time before disappearing with Ernesto into Blue, setting off to make his mama's wish come true.

 **THE END**


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